Ōkami no Naku Koro Ni
by Der Blaue Wolf
Summary: Ange, now known as Yukari Kotobuki, travels with a friend to a publishing meeting. Cue a cut-off mansion, and a chain of murders controlled by a warlock, who seems to have a complex agenda. But will it turn out as mystery, or fantasy? Almost AngeXMammon, but that'd conflict with Van Dine's 3rd, wouldn't it? COMPLETE, but still unsolved by any readers... what a pity... kihihi...
1. The Beginning

**Red truth, **blue truth, **gold truth, **_eternal truth._

A/N: As there are a few things which are quite important to understand, if there is any information which I think is important to understand, I will put it in a note at the start of the relevant chapter. For this chapter, the only important thing I can think of is the floor numbers: I use 'ground floor' then number upwards as 1st, 2nd and 3rd, making four floors in total. A basic picture of the mansion will be linked on my profile.

And for the record: **All the information explained in the author's notes is true, unless otherwise specified.**

Ōkami no Naku Koro Ni, Ch1

August 5th, 2003:

Kotobuki Yukari sighed as she watched the scenery fly past her. The woman, now 25, was being driven to a meeting of writers with their publisher, at the house of one of the publisher. She had to wonder why Mr. Kurusu's house was so far from a town, but given where the former head of her own family had lived, did not bother to question it.

"Something wrong?" A female voice asked from the driver's seat, and Yukari turned to the driver, a woman with long brown hair and dark brown eyes, who was her assistant, of sorts. They were friends first, employer and employee second. Not that they knew each other before Yukari had advertised for an assistant, but the two had gotten on very well, at least by Yukari's standards.

The woman's name was Marin Yokubari, and there was something about her, which Yukari could not quite place, which made her feel like a close friend from the moment they met.

Yukari sighed again, "This is such a bore, why couldn't Kurusu have agreed to have the meeting in Tokyo or something, not in this damned place in the mountains?"

"You know what old men are like, especially those who still do business."

"Selfish, proud and certain that they should be bowed down to by the younger generations. If it weren't for this offer of his being quite so good, I'd have told him where to get off."

Marin giggled, this was the Yukari she liked to see. "Well then, it's a shame it's such good business. But really, you shouldn't go around making enemies, it's not good for an author to be unpopular."

Yukari made a 'humph' noise, and looked away from her friend, who chuckled at the stubborn young woman.

"Hey, how about another game? I've thought up some more," Marin said after a while of driving in silence.

"Why not?" Yukari said, smiling a little, as her boredom would soon be partly relieved.

* * *

Somewhere else, yet in the same place, another Ange watched herself, a vague look of interest on her face, though she was not that interested.

She sat in a chair, a fine wooden thing, before a table with a tea set upon it. There were several other chairs around the table, as though many guests were expected at this tea party, but none had shown up yet. Though there was herein a disparity with the tea set, which only had two cups, and was missing the tea pot.

A shimmer of gold appeared, as a young woman appeared, with the elusive tea pot in hand, and bowed to her mistress.

"Mammon, you're here," Ange-Beatrice said to the stake who had just materialised.

"Of course Ange-sama, I came as soon as you called," the stake said, pouring the tea from the pot she held.

"Have you any more games to while away some time?"

Mammon nodded, and said a simple, "Yes."

Ange raised her hand, and a chess board, without its pieces, appeared on the table. "Then show me your game."

Mammon nodded, and set up pieces on the board. The set-up was nothing like that of normal chess, with no neat line of pawns, and the kings, queens, knights, rooks and bishops placed seemingly randomly. But if you looked at the placing of each piece, you could see the care with which Mammon had chosen that position, how she had thought through everything to create this layout, and when completed, there was a sense that every piece belonged where it was placed uniquely.

Ange looked at the board, and smiled, "You're getting better Mammon, this looks like it will entertain me for some time."

Mammon smiled, or was it a smirk? From her, the two were so similar. "I still am nothing compared to you, Ange-sama."

Ange looked at the board carefully, before raising her hand, and a white pawn appeared in her hand. "Let us examine this first mystery. A room, with no entrances apart from the door and window, and both are locked."

Mammon nodded, "Indeed, **the window is locked from the inside. The door is also locked, and there exists no other route out of the room.**"

Ange nodded, "So, there is a single victim, and a stake through his back? Your favourite method once again Mammon. Don't you get tired of killing your pieces with the same weapon all the time?"

Mammon smiled, "You are a witch, you have countless weapons, but I am always a stake, that is my main armament."

Ange nodded, then surveyed the board again, "And this room... there are two keys, one is in the room itself, and the other is the master key, which is in the possession of... the butler? Well I suppose I should try it, the butler did it."

Mammon shook her head, "**We play this game with van Dine's, and Van Dine's 11****th****, a servant may not be the murderer.**"

Ange sighed, "Then he was an accomplice. The real murderer took the key from him, and used it to commit murder."

Mammon shook her head, "**Until the detective tells him, the butler is unaware of the crime.**"

"He was an unwilling accomplice, he leant the key, then realised the person who he had leant the key to had committed murder. He covered for them after that."

"Why would he do that? He has no reason to, and otherwise he'd be suspected."

"The person who committed murder was important to him, to the point where he would risk his own liberty."

"Oh really? Can you show that someone like that existed? Otherwise, **Knox's 8****th****, Van Dine's 1****st****, a case may not be solved with clues that are not presented, and all clues must be presented.**"

Ange sighed, "**The butler cared for his master above the level of a normal servant, this is shown by several of his actions. **He would be willing to go to great lengths to protect his master."

And so the game continued...

* * *

Even as the witch and her furniture played a game, their vessels played a very similar game, with remarkably similar rules. It had become their way of passing time on long journeys, to have a battle of wits over a mystery. Yukari, having learnt something of the mystery genre from her life under a different name, was quite good at solving the mysteries that Marin challenged her with, while Marin had a little experience from her own reading.

As the pair played, a mansion eventually came into sight. I terms of size, it was certainly a mansion, not a house, but Yukari, who had seen many such large buildings, still thought of it as relatively small, especially when compared to the island mansion she had visited when she was much younger.

Marin smiled as they drove over a bridge, and entered the grounds of the mansion. The area they were in was quite hilly, almost mountainous, and the mansion was surrounded on three sides by mountains, and on the fourth by a mountain stream, cutting it off almost completely from all sides. The only way in was the one bridge they had just crossed.

The building itself was fairly cubic, of about four floors height, but had part cut-away, so that an area at the front of the mansion only had two floors. It was richly decorated, and Yukari suspected that it was designed to impress.

As the pair pulled up to the house, they saw two other people getting out of another car, while being assisted by a man in a suit. The suited man appeared to be a servant, and a moderately old one, who stirred memories of a certain butler in Yukari's mind.

The two he was assisting were a man and a woman, both of a similar age to Yukari and Marin. The man was a tall figure, with messy brown hair, in black trousers and a white shirt. The woman by his side was a head shorter than the man, with curled hair, dyed a light purple, who wore a blue dress, with golden yellow trim, and long black socks, with white, heeled shoes, which were quite tall, making it clear just how short she was.

As the two women stopped the car and stepped out, the servant came over to them. "Kotobuki-sama and Yokubari-sama?"

Yukari nodded, "That'd be us."

The man bowed, "My name is Renji Torei, the Kurusu family butler. Please allow me to show you inside."

As he spoke to them, a younger servant came out of the house, and approached, bowing to the two ladies, "Please allow me to take your bags."

"Oh, thank you," Marin said, as the boy took their two suitcases for them, and returned inside.

"Please, follow me," Renji said, leading them inside.

As they approached the door, the other two guests joined them. "Good afternoon, nice to meet you," the man spoke as they came close. "I'm Sukoshi, and this is Lana."

"Yukari Kotobuki, and this is Marin," Yukari introduced herself and her assistant. "Would you be a fellow author?"

"Yeah, and Lana here's my assistant. I write mysteries you see, and she checks them over. She is really good at solving them though." Sukoshi laughed a little.

"Some of your mysteries are quite fun THOUGH. They take me a good while to SOLVE."

Yukari blinked in surprise. The woman, Lana, spoke rather strangely, the endings of her sentences sounded a little odd, but she could not say exactly how. She glanced at Marin, who shrugged subtly.

"Ah, yeah... Lana has a slight speech quirk, you'll get used to it. To me it now just sounds cute," Sukoshi said, noticing the two women's surprise.

Lana frowned, "Sorry, it's just how I've always SPOKEN."

"It's fine, no worries, it just took us by surprise," Yukari quickly said. She quickly changed the subject.

The four followed the butler into the house, still talking politely to one another.

* * *

Ange-Beatrice raised an eyebrow. She knew that speech quirk well, and knew whose it was.

"Dlanor, I know you're nearby, come here," she said, and suddenly, the Inquisitor appeared before her.

The girl appeared little different from before. She wore the same uniform as always, had not grown in the slightest, and wore her usual blank expression. "Lady ANGE-Beatrice, it has been some TIME."

Ange nodded, "So, you have a human vessel now?"

"INDEED. She is an excellent VESSEL. She is well-versed in the Decalogue of my FATHER."

"Do sit down, I wish to talk to you. Would you like some tea?" Ange asked.

"Tea would be LOVELY," Dlanor replied as she sat.

Ange waved a hand, and Mammon appeared, holding a tray with two new cups and a tea pot. The stake placed them upon the table, and poured the drink for her master and the guest.

"So, what are you doing here?" Ange asked as Mammon continued with her task.

"I came here to assist in a GAME." Dlanor's answer made Ange sigh.

"So people are going to die here?"

Dlanor nodded, "But do not fear, **Neither your vessel nor Mammon's will be HARMED.**"

Ange frowned, "Well that is a relief, but I still don't want to be caught up in this."

"I apologise, but you will BE. I have something to give YOU." Dlanor reached her right hand inside her coat, and withdrew a letter, handing it to Ange.

Ange looked at the letter, a plain thing, with the word 'Beatrice' written on the front. Flipping it over, she found it was sealed with was, marked with a wolf's head. She opened it, and began to read:

'My Lady ANGE-Beatrice

You are invited to play the part of the detective in my game. I hope you will accept, or else the game will have to go ahead without a detective. Please give your reply to the deliverer.

Satoru Klein, The Unending Warlock.'

Ange looked up from the letter, and glanced at Mammon, who stood awaiting orders, then at Dlanor, who was calmly sipping her tea. "So... the game will go ahead regardless of whether I play or not?"

"That is CORRECT. Lord Klein has put much work into this GAME. He will have it play out even if no detective is PRESENT. If that is the case, he plans to have the countless witches of this world try their hands at his MYSTERY."

Ange raised an eyebrow, and looked back at the invitation. "Is it just a single game? There won't be multiple rounds or anything?"

Dlanor blinked, and stared at Ange for a few moments, before speaking in red once more, "No, **this game is not a CATBOX. There will be just one GAME.**"

Ange sighed, "Fine then, I will play along, if only so that those who will die will not have their last moments turned into a sport by those other witches."

Dlanor nodded, then drained what was left of her tea and stood, "Do excuse me, I must go and inform Lord Klein of your acceptance at ONCE. The game will begin shortly, so until then please just WATCH."

Dlanor walked away into the distance, until she could no longer be seen.

"What do you think of this, Ange-sama?" Mammon asked her mistress.

"I do wonder why Dlanor would help a witch, but this will probably be yet another shallow game. But I'll play along. Let's teach another witch who we are."

Mammon smiled, "Of course, Ange-sama."

* * *

Yukari, Marin, Sukoshi and Lana followed the butler into a large room, which was clearly the parlour, with several sofas and comfortable chairs, most of which were already taken by other guests.

A middle-aged gentleman, maybe in his early fifties, with greying hair and dressed in a suit, turned at their entrance, and bowed slightly. "Ah, Jinchi-san, Yuugaina-san, Kotobuki-san, Yokubari-san. I am Kaname Kurusu, Kenji's younger brother. I am glad to finally meet you."

"It is a pleasure, Kurusu-san," Sukoshi bowed.

"Please, allow me to introduce you, these are your fellow authors, Mayu Ritsuka-san, Kira Satsujin-san and Rina Kibou-san."

Yukari observed these three carefully. Mayu was a lady maybe a few years older than herself, with longer brown hair, and a sweet smile. She wore brown-framed glasses, and had a yellow dress on. Yukari had heard her name, and believed she wrote children's books.

Kira was a man in his thirties, in a grey suit, with short, well-kept black hair, and a displeased look. Yukari ascertained from what Kaname was saying that he was an adventure writer mainly.

The final author, Rina, was probably in her late twenties, with curly blond hair, wearing a long green dress. Yukari knew of her, Ms. Kibou wrote romances, which Yukari had seen Marin reading on occasion.

"I apologise for my brother, he's running a trifle late," Kaname said.

"I'll say," a voice said, with a strong foreign accent. Yukari looked to the speaker, a man, who was sat with a lady. Both were clearly foreign, the man being a tall figure, with dark blonde hair running down to his neck, and the woman, who was somewhat shorter than him, with her own lighter hair in a ponytail, which Yukari did not think suited her. Both were in their thirties, she guessed.

"Ah, I must also introduce you all to our other guests. These are two of our greatest investors, Carl and Sharon Haber. They came here from America to discuss business with Kenji."

"And we've been waiting for over an hour just to see him," the woman, Sharon, commented.

"He'll be here shortly," a voice said from the door, and a woman entered.

"Oh, Shika-chan, you're here," Kaname said. "Ladies and gentlemen, this is my sister, Shika."

The woman who had entered the room bowed. She seemed a fair bit younger than her brother, though still in her forties most likely. She wore an elegant black dress, and moved with dignity.

Another woman, around fifty years of age, wearing servant's clothing, came in behind her, carrying a purse, which she handed to her mistress.

"Thank you Karen. Is Suru preparing the dinner?"

The maid nodded, "He said it should all be ready in time."

"Good, then go and see if he needs assistance."

The maid bowed and left.

"Now we're only short our host," the male author, Kira, said.

"Is he often tardy?" Rina asked, inspecting her nails boredly.

"He's never been late when we had meetings before," Mayu said, timidly.

"He'll be here soon enough," Kaname said.

As his words were just finished being spoken, the doors burst open, and a figure stood in the doorway. It was an old man, nearly sixty by the look of him, but who still seemed very lively. He wore a suit, with a cloak over his back, and smiled, his mouth just visible between his beard and moustache.

"Welcome my guests, to my mansion," Kenji Kurusu procalaimed, "Welcome to Kirisuto!"

* * *

"So... aside from the cook, who we haven't seen yet, I'm assuming that those are all the pieces." Ange spoke to herself as much as to Mammon, not expecting an answer.

"**Indeed, the sixteen people who have been mentioned so far are the only people in this mansion or within its grounds. At no point in this game will any person leave or enter the grounds of this mansion from outside.**" A voice spoke in the red truth.

Ange and Mammon turned from where they were surveying their chess board, to see Dlanor and a man standing before the inquisitor. The man appeared very similar to Sukoshi Jinchi, leaving no doubt as to who his vessel was. He was clad in armour, of the sort that a mediaeval knight might have worn, but without the helmet, and with a wolf engraved in gold on the chest plate.

Ange stood upon seeing the man who had spoken. "I assume you are the Warlock, Satoru Klein."

"Indeed, I am a Warlock. May I introduce myself and my game? This is the game of Kirisuto Mansion, and I am the Game Master." He bowed, and when he spoke again, his words were neither red nor blue. Nor were they golden, but a shade of deep purple, "_I am Satoru Klein, the Unending Warlock, the one who knows that magic exists, but wishes it did not._"

* * *

Welcome to Kirisuto Mansion

Bis Bald

BW


	2. The First Trial

Ōkami no Naku Koro Ni, Ch2

Ange stared at the self-proclaimed warlock. Metal armour, in this age, seriously? And the way he spoke, was he trying to be theatrical or something? Also, what was up with speaking in purple?

The warlock, Klein as he had called himself, raised himself from his bow, and smiled... or was it a smirk? "Lady Ange, how nice to meet you at last. It is not every day that one gets the opportunity to entertain a Golden Witch."

"Enough of the pleasantries." Ange was already irritated by the man, "Let us get on with the game."

"But of course, still, you will have to wait a little longer before the trials begin. Now, let us return to our vigil..."

* * *

Kaname sighed at his brother's entrance, and put his hand to his forehead, clearly despairing slightly, but pulled himself together, "Aniki, good of you to join us."

"Quite," the American, Carl Haber, put in, with an irritable tone, "We've been waiting for a good hour just to see you, is this normal in Japan or something?"

"Well maybe you should have turned up at the time I requested, instead of an hour early!" Kenji spoke back, every bit as annoyed as the man he spoke to.

The two men continued their argument for a while, though they argued like old friends, rather than enemies. Kaname put his hand to the back of his head, and looked apologetic, "Sorry, they tend to act a bit like this whenever they meet..."

"You don't have to apologise for them, Onii-san, they are both grown ups, it's their choice not to act it," the younger sister, Shika, said.

"It's quite alright, boys will be boys, even when they're old men," Rina said, smiling wryly.

"Now that's not terribly fair, Kibou-san," Kira said, leaning back in his chair. "We don't all mess around like that."

"OH? I know that Sukoshi-kun acts like that SOMETIMES." Lana spoke, earning a slight glare from her friend.

"All the guys I've ever known were children on the inside," Yukari said, smirking at the irritation on both the male writers' faces.

"And of course, women grow up and always act mature, don't they?" Kira asked sarcastically.

"Of course we do!" Rina said happily, causing the women present to laugh, while the three gentlemen simply glanced at each other, and shrugged in unison.

"Let the ladies think what they want, Satsujin-san, Kaname-san, we should leave the ladies to their own form of discussion," Sukoshi suggested, and the three men separated themselves somewhat from the ladies, who were now chatting about this and that.

Yukari found herself in conversation with Mayu Ritsuka, who had, 'til now, been fairly quiet. "Kotobuki-san, what do you write?"

"Fantasies mainly, though I do slip into other genres when the mood suits me."

"I see, I've written a couple myself. Children do love a good fantasy," she giggled slightly.

"I'm not sure who I'm targeting with my books, there's no real audience which springs to mind. I just write, and whoever picks up the book and enjoys it is enough of an audience for me."

Mayu smiled, "That must be nice in a way, though I imagine that publishers give you a hell of a time, if you don't know yourself who the book is for."

"That's why I'm here. Kenji-san seems somewhat less particular in that regard."

"Have you had anything published by him yet?"

"No, this is actually my first time meeting him or anyone from his company. The draft copy of my latest book was given to him by chance, and he liked it, or so I'm told. He made me a potential offer which was too good to refuse," Yukari explained.

"I see..." Mayu looked briefly thoughtful, before the conversation shifted to another topic.

* * *

Ange yawned, then looked up at the warlock sat opposite her, "How much more of this is there? When is the first murder due?"

The warlock took a pocket watch out, and examined it, before replying, "Not much longer... it will begin tonight, that is for sure."

"Great, at least we don't have to wait until morning. But this place still isn't sealed off yet..."

"Oh, don't worry, it won't be long..." the warlock spoke, and suddenly thunder sounded, "Ah, here it comes..."

Everyone was suddenly drawn to look at the windows in the parlour, through which a flash of light had just come. It had started raining a little while before, but nobody had paid much heed to it, until now. The rain was coming down in sheets, and lightning had just struck.

"Hm... this is not good," Kenji spoke through the quite which had enveloped the room after the flash and the boom of the following thunder.

"It's just a storm, it'll pass," Yukari said calmly.

"But there's a dam upstream of here, and it was damaged not long ago by another storm. I hope they've fixed it..." Kaname sounded worried.

* * *

"A dam? Let me guess, it'll burst any time now." Ange's voice dripped with sarcasm, "Seriously, is this the best you could do?"

Klein sighed, and turned from the game board to look at Ange, "What, does the reason none can escape have to be that intricate? What it is does not matter, just the fact that people cannot enter or leave is what is important."

Ange made an exasperated sigh, "Fine, let's just get back to it then."

* * *

"If it goes, will the bridge be alright?" Kira voiced the worry that had struck several of the people there.

They did not need to wait long for an answer. They soon heard a crashing of water, and watched as the portion of the river they could see flowed past, suddenly much higher than before, and carrying with it pieces of stone.

There was a knock on the door not long after, and the butler entered, looking grave. "Kenji-sama, the dam appears to have burst, and the bridge has been badly damaged. It will be impassible for tonight, at the very least. In this weather there is nowhere to cross."

"Thank you Renji." Kenji then turned to his guests, "It looks like it may be some time before we can safely leave, especially with your cars... I hope none of you has any urgent need to get away."

Nobody spoke up, and Kenji nodded, "Good, because there would be nothing we could do if there were. Oh well, it's not like we lack food. Speaking of which, Renji, is Suru nearly finished with the dinner?"

"I believe the meal will be ready presently Sir. If you would, please follow me to the dining room." The latter part of the servant's statement was addressed to everyone in the room, and they all stood from where they were sitting and followed him into the hallway, and then a little way before they reached the dining room.

The dining room was of a quite normal style, with one long, wooden table surrounded by chairs. In each place, there was a little white card, folded in half so it stood up, with a name on it, indicating the places where each person was to sit. Yukari found herself seated between Marin and the sister of the Kurusus, Shika. On Marin's other side was Lana, and the two of them quickly entered a conversation.

"So, Kotobuki-san, how have you found the mansion so far?" Shika asked Yukari.

"Quite fine, but I've yet to see much of it." Yukari's reply was relatively indifferent, not being terribly interested in the woman who would be nearly twice her age.

"Hm... I suppose not." Shika seemed a little put-out by the younger woman's response.

Ange thought carefully as she watched her piece. 'Maybe I should take this opportunity to ask about some things, they might lead me to a motive later...'

"Feel free to enter complete control and ask away," the warlock said, seeming to read her mind. "I know that's what I'd do if I were you."

Ange glared at the man, but knew that she really should ask some questions of this youngest sibling.

"So," Yukari started, as she thought of what exactly to ask, "Is it just you three siblings who live here?"

"Oh yes. We used to live separately, but after my husband and I split up and Kaname-nii-san's wife died, we both moved back to live with Kenji. We've been here for a good seven years. My son and Nii-san's daughter lived with us for some of that time, but now they're off on their own."

"Is it often that you have guests like this?" Yukari asked.

"Not very, but you see, we've had several authors join us recently, and Kaname suggested that we invite them here together, rather than meet each individually. It's nicer like this, I think, and Kenji agreed fairly quickly."

"So have you met any of the authors here before?"

Shika thought for a moment, before replying, "I've met Satsujin-san before, briefly, and Jinchi-san and his assistant a couple of times. I've never seen Ritsuka-san or Kibou-san before though."

It was at this point that the doors to the dining room opened wide, and a man walked in, pushing a serving trolley. Behind him came the younger servant from earlier, pushing a second trolley.

The first servant was evidently the chef, dressed in a suit, with combed-back brown hair, maybe in his thirties, and a slight smile on his face. "Ladies and gentlemen, dinner is served."

The dinner was some type of chicken in sauce. Yukari vaguely registered the long name, and just enjoyed the taste. It was certainly fine food, but she suspected that she had tasted better, a long time ago.

The meal was a relatively quiet affair, aside from the clinking of cutlery, and occasional pieces of chatter, and the odd compliment about the food. Soon it was finished, and the dessert plates were cleared away.

"Now!" Kenji stood suddenly, "I think we should leave discussions of business until tomorrow. Excuse me, but I have some papers to go through, so I will be in my study. Please, rest yourselves, and we will talk more tomorrow. Our library is open, so if you would like to look through it, feel at your leisure."

Kenji left, and the guests looked at each other, bemused. But, there was no point sitting around doing nothing, and they all began to drift away from the dining hall in small groups or singly. Soon, it was just Yukari, Marin and Shika left in the room.

Marin stood, and looked at Yukari, "What do you want to do, Yukari-chan?"

"Maybe go to the library, see what they have there," Yukari said, thoughtfully.

"Would you like me to show you where it is?" Shika asked.

"Oh, thank you," Yukari replied, and the two younger women followed their elder. When they reached the library, Marin was astounded by its size, while Yukari was a little impressed, though not as much. It was a very large room, with the walls lined with bookcases. There must have been a few dozen bookcases, each about three metres high, and about half as long, stuffed with books. Some chairs were placed in the centre of the room, with desks by them, for people to read at.

"Impressive isn't it? We have a copy of every book our company published over the past four years in here. Every so often we have to clear out some of the old ones which we weren't particularly fond of, to make room for the new ones."

Marin immediately went over to a shelf, and started looking through the books. Yukari followed suit, and Shika decided to join them, and looked for something for herself.

* * *

Ange yawned, "When are we going to find a body?"

Klein smirked, "You sound like a psychopath."

"Says the guy who's doing the killing."

"Touché, but don't worry, just a little longer... now... watch."

* * *

Carl Haber had gone to his room. He was by himself, his wife having wanted to take a look around the house. There was a sofa in the room, as well as a bed, and a phone stood on a desk by the sofa. He locked the door, and left the key in the lock, so as not to lose it in a pocket or anything stupid like that.

He stepped over to the sofa, and sat down, yawning.

"Tired, are you?"

A voice interrupted his yawn, and he spun around, but saw nobody. "Who... who's there?"

"Only me."

Carl span around again, facing back towards the door. "Who the hell is that? Come out an show yourself."

There was a purple glow, and a figure in armour appeared, visor covering his face, and walked towards Carl.

"Who the hell are you? Kenji, is this your idea of a joke?"

"This is no joke," the figure replied, and raised a hand, which held a knife.

"What the hell? What do you think you're doing?" the figure threw the knife, and Carl dodged, the knife just missing him. "The hell?" Carl suddenly felt a pain in his back. Looking as much as he could, he saw the knife sticking out of his back. "How...?"

Carl collapsed, knocking over the phone and the table it was on, the knife protruding from his back, facing towards the ceiling. Carl grasped for something, anything, and grabbed the receiver of the phone. The thought passed through his head that he needer to call for help, and his fingers quickly dialled... the call was been connected... come on... he did not have much more time before... before...

Carl's fingers went limp around the receiver, and it slipped from his grasp. The call was not picked up anyway, and the warlock stepped over, and surveyed his work.

"Beautiful, my first trial, a closed room. I rather enjoy these you know. That's why I wanted to challenge the new Beatrice to this game. So... let us begin, ANGE-BEATRICE!"

* * *

Yukari and the other two were roused from their reading by the maid hurriedly coming to the door. "Madam! Have you seen Kenji-sama, or Carl-sama?"

Shika was surprised, "No... neither of them. Why are you so agitated?"

"We can't find either of them, and the Haber's room is locked."

"Renji has the master key doesn't he?" Shika asked.

"No Madam, he gave it to Kenji-sama after dinner. That's why we were looking for Kenji-sama."

Shika stood, looking worried, and the two other ladies rose as well. "We'll be there at once," Shika said, and the three of them, followed by the maid, ran towards the room in question.

When they arrived, they found a group of people. The servants, the authors, everyone was there, apart from Kenji and Carl. Sharon Haber was clearly distressed, and worried, and kept banging on the door.

"Have you looked in Kenji's study?" Shika asked as they approached.

"No, Madam," Renji replied. "It was locked, and when I knocked there was no reply.

"I see... then we have no choice I suppose," Shika said. "If we can't find them... and Haber-san had the key..."

"We'll have to break this thing down," Sukoshi said. " Satsujin-san, Renji-san, help me."

The three men got in position, and the other people stood back. The three rammed the door, but it held at the first blow. "Again!" Kira said, determined.

The second blow did it, knocking the door open, which swung wide on its hinges, as the lock gave way. The room was opened, and a sight of horror met the eyes of the guests. Carl Haber was lying on the ground, a knife sticking out of his back. There was little blood, as the knife stopped the flow, but there was a knocked over desk by the body, and a phone which had probably been on it beforehand.

Yukari quickly went over to the body, and at the first touch knew he was dead. The body had cooled, not substantially, he had been alive but a couple of hours before, but enough to tell her that he was dead.

She looked to the others, and shook her head. Sharon Haber collapsed suddenly, and Renji had to catch her, and carry her outside.

Nobody spoke for a few moments, they just stared. Yukari noticed that three pairs of eyes though were not fixed on the body. Those of Marin, Lana and Sukoshi were flitting around the room, looking for anything which would tell them what happened.

Yukari stood, and walked over to the window. There was only one window, and as Yukari found when she reached it, it was locked from the inside. She looked to the door, which Marin was examining.

"The key... it's in the lock... the door must have been locked from the inside..." Marin stared at Ange. "But that's..."

"A closed room... how interesting." Sukoshi was the one who spoke, a sad grin on his face. "Somebody committed murder, and really doesn't want us to know how they did it... this is... beautiful."

* * *

The Unending Warlock looked at the Golden Witch. "So, this is my first trial. I put a fair bit of work into this one, how do you like it?"

Ange raised an eyebrow, "This... should be simple enough."

Klein smirked at the confident face of his opponent. "Then get ready, Ange-Beatrice! **This tale is just beginning!**"

* * *

Bis Bald

BW


	3. The Eternal Truth

A/N: If anyone wants to try giving me suggestions as to how the crimes were committed, I'd be interested to hear them. If you want to, PM me your solutions, but please don't put them in reviews. I don't want the solutions spoiled for those who won't think about my mystery, but hearing what people come up with as a solution is one of the best parts, I find, of writing mysteries. I understand why Ryukishi-sensei would enjoy making such a beautiful mystery, and why he never gave an absolute solution, unless you'd worked it out of course.

Also, red truth of the chapter: **Yes, the author is an AngeXMammon fan, so AngeXMammon haters, just stick it.**

**Of course, by van Dine's 3****rd****, there must be no love interest. **So it's not like there will be any pairings in this story.

Ōkami no Naku Koro Ni, Ch3

Yukari looked around the room, trying to find any clues she could, but Shika stepped forwards, "Kotobuki-san, we should leave this for the police!"

Yukari glared at her, "**I am the Detective! I have the right to investigate the crime scene!**"

Nobody could quite explain why, but they knew she had the right, just by her saying that truth, they accepted it instantly. Shika stepped back, and Yukari returned to searching. "Marin, get looking!"

"Yep, I'm on it." Marin hurried to do as instructed.

Soon they had searched the entire room, and Yukari had found something. A second key was in the room, and when she picked it up, Shika gasped, "The master key! But I thought Kenji had it..."

Yukari looked at it. She had found it on a closet. It was bound within the closed room. Yukari looked at Shika, "How many master keys are there?"

"There is just one, that one," was the woman's reply.

"And how about keys to this room?"

"There's just one. Well, there is a set of copies, but they're locked in a safe, which only Kenji can open."

* * *

Ange turned to the warlock. "Care to repeat what she said?"

He smiled, no, grinned, "Certainly. **There is only one master key. There are only two keys to this room. One was found in the inside of the lock to this room, the other is in a safe which only Kenji can open.** That do?"

Ange nodded, "That's fine. Next, we've searched the room, please confirm the following: there are only two entrances to this room! Say it in red!"

Klein raised an eyebrow, "I can do better than that. _This is the Eternal Truth: There are only two ways in or out of this room for any object, including people: the window and the door!_"

Words of purple lettering came from the warlock's mouth, and Ange frowned, "The Declaration?"

"Oh no, the purple declaration is weak compared to this. This is my own brand of truth, the Purple, or the Eternal Truth. _What I say in purple is true at all times within the game board. It is as true as the red truth._"

Ange's forehead creased as she thought, "So, what you're saying is that, say in this case, it is impossible that, at some point, a third entrance existed. It effectively eliminates that possibility."

The warlock nodded, "It can also be used to confirm things will never be true, for example, _This is the eternal truth: the following are not culprits or accomplices: Ange, Marin, Lana, Sukoshi._"

Ange nodded, "I see... useful I suppose, though you could just say it in red."

Klein smiled, "I could... but I have my reasons."

"Ri~ght," Ange sighed. Now, have some blue, There is a way through the door or window while they are locked."

"**When the door or window are locked, they become impassible, that is, there is no way through them while locked.**" Klein's response was immediate, he didn't even need to think.

"The window could be locked from the outside! Or alternatively, the door could be locked from the outside!"

"**The window cannot be locked or unlocked from the outside. The key was in inside of the door's lock. As such, the door could only be locked and unlocked from the inside.**"

Ange grimaced, then looked back at the scene, "That phone... is it of importance?"

* * *

Yukari spoke, "This phone... how does the phone system work here?"

"The phones are all connected to an internal line, and they can also call outside the mansion." Kaname was the one who replied.

'Maybe we should try calling the police...' Yukari thought to herself. "Shika, take Marin to another room and she'll call the police.

"Y-yes..." Shika did as she was told, and Marin followed the woman.

Yukari looked back at the phone, "He might have tried to call somebody, is there a way of checking?"

"I can check the record, all numbers dialled are automatically recorded, as are the lengths of the call, and the numbers of any incoming calls." It was the youngest servant who spoke. Yukari realised she did not know his name.

"Sorry, what was your name?"

"Saban Toru, Kotobuki-sama."

"Right, go and get the call records, I want to know if Haber called anyone before he died."

Saban did as he was told, and Yukari paced round the room, deep in though.

* * *

"Please repeat this in red, 'The cause of Carl's death is the knife in his back.'"

"**The cause of Haber's death is the knife in his back.**" Klein was happy to oblige the witch with the red truth.

"Then I propose that Kenji is hidden somewhere in this room. He committed murder, and then hid himself!"

Klein shook his head, "You've already searched this room, and you couldn't find him."

"It's possible that he just hid somewhere we didn't look."

"Where would that be?" Klein smiled, and Ange thought that maybe she was hitting close to the truth.

"Under the bed! Under the sofa!"

"**That area has been CHECKED. That area has been CHECKED.**" Dlanor had stepped forward, and held her red longsword, and pointed it at Ange. "Try AGAIN."

"Behind the closet, in the closet, under the floor, in the bed, inside the walls!"

"**That area has been CHECKED. That has been CHECKED. CHECKED. CHECKED. CHECKED! Knox's THIRD! Hidden passages are FORBIDDEN. The same applies to hidden areas in the ROOM.**"

Klein smiled, "Thank you Dlanor. I'll put it more simply for you, Ange. **Kenji is not in this room!**"

'Damn... the idea that he was the culprit and hid here is gone... that would even have explained why the master key is here...'

"A trap was used to kill Haber, it was set up so that when the phone receiver was lifted, it would stab the person who did so!"

Dlanor stepped forward again, "**Knox's Eighth: It is forbidden for the case to be resolved with clues that are not PRESENTED. Do you have evidence of a TRAP?**"

Ange growled, she should have seen that coming. Damn those rules, there had to be a way for this murder to occur, she knew that, but it made no sense...

"Haber was alive until we broke the door open, but was near enough the door that the knife he had been stabbed with was forced into him, killing him."

"When you entered, you were to first to feel the body's heat. It had cooled. I'll say it in red, **Haber was dead for at least half an hour before the door was opened.**"

There had to be something, something neither she nor Mammon had examined, something which would produce the hole for murder to be committed.

There had to be something. Think, when she entered, the window was definitely locked. That meant that if there was false seal, it was the door. But that was locked too... right?

"The door was never locked! One of the people at the door was the murderer, and lied about the door being locked. When we entered the room, we were all in shock, and they quickly locked the door from the inside!"

Klein looked at her, a look of surprise on his face. Dlanor gave an uncertain look to the warlock.

Ange smirked. 'Perfect, he won't be able to come back from that!'

"Aha..." What? Laughter? "Ahaha!" The warlock was laughing? "Kiyahahaha! The door wasn't locked? I never expected you'd think of that. That's a good one, a really good one. But let me say this, **Up until the door was broken open, for the previous five minutes at least, the door was locked!**"

Ange stared, it could not be... she had thought it was an excellent truth. Apparently, the warlock thought otherwise.

"Your move again, Ange!" Klein smirked, and fixed his gaze on the witch. "Your move."

* * *

Marin rushed back into the room, followed by Shika, "Yukari-chan, the phones aren't working. We can't contact the police!"

Yukari growled, "They're not working..."

"They can make internal calls still, but external calls are impossible."

Yukari looked at the assembled people, "Has anyone got a mobile with reception?"

Everyone with a phone checked theirs, but they all shook their heads. The storm must have cut off the reception, maybe the tower providing the signal was taken out due to a power outage. The reason did not matter. The point was that they were stuck in that mansion, with no way to communicate with the outside, and one of the people in that mansion was a murderer.

"So..." Yukari began to speak, slowly, "...We're on our own until the storm stops."

Everyone looked at each other, worried. Yukari continued, "I'm going to need alibis for all of you. We need to work out who did this, and stop them."

They were all looking at Yukari now, who had something akin to an irresistible voice. "When Saban-kun returns, we will go to the parlour, there I want to question everyone."

It was not long before Saban returned, with the phone record. "So," Yukari asked him, "who was the call to?"

"It was to Kenji-sama, and the call time is not recorded, so Kenji-sama never picked up," Saban explained.

* * *

"Is what he's saying true?" Ange asked her opponant.

"Yes, **Haber made a single phone call after entering the room. That call was never received.**"

"I see... so it was a call for help I assume," Ange mused.

Mammon stepped forward, and nudged Ange, "Mistress, isn't it likely that this whole phone thing is just to distract us?"

Ange thought about the stake's suggestion. The phone call really did not seem important, but wait, it did show one thing.

"This phone call shows that the killer was not Kenji or any of his family, or at least, could not be recognised as them. If Haber had recognised the killer as a member of the family, he would not have called Kenji for help."

Mammon nodded, "But the killer could easily have worn a mask or something. Haber might not have had any idea who his killer was."

"Then we can examine the reason why Kenji did not pick up the phone. I'd like to check something about the phone records..."

* * *

"Toru-san, can I see those records?" Yukari asked. Saban handed them over, and Yukari looked over them. Only one phone call had been made since dinner, the one that Haber made. Yukari folded up the printed piece of paper, and put it in a pocket. "That makes things rather simple."

* * *

"Okay, now for a blue truth," Ange raised her arm and pointed at Klein, "Kenji was clearly not using the phone at the time he would have received the call. Therefore, I propose the reason Kenji did not pick up the phone was that he was the murderer! Thus, he was not in his room when the phone rang. Haber did not recognise his murderer, and therefore tried to call the person he thought he could trust most!"

"Could Kenji not just have gone for a walk?" Klein asked.

"Unlikely, he said after dinner that he had papers to read and that he would be in his study."

Klein sighed, "So you're saying that Kenji couldn't possibly have left his study to go for a walk, and could not have happened to miss the phone call?"

"No, I'm merely suggesting a possibility in blue. Now, would you like to deny it in red? Otherwise I'll explain this as Kenji's work."

Klein bit his lip, but shook himself slightly, "You can say he could have done it, but how did he do it?"

Ange thought about this again. How could he have done it? How could he break this closed room? Wait...

"Kenji had a key to this room in a safe. He used that key to open the door and lock it afterwards, then gave the original key to an accomplice. The accomplice put the key in the inside of the lock while we were distracted, creating the illusion of this closed room!"

A golden staff, with the one winged eagle at its top, had appeared in Ange's hand, and she swung it at Klein, an arc of blue following her swing.

"**When the door was broken down, the key was already in the lock.**"

Ange's staff clashed with a purple sword, and giant thing, which Klein held in both hands, and had swung with a red trail flowing from it.

"Kenji's accomplice is the one who locked the door from the inside. He then hid in the room, and Kenji disguised himself as the accomplice. When he had an opportunity, the accomplice left the room. Kenji was not hidden in the room, but his accomplice was!"

Ange gave her blue truth, and Mammon appeared at her side, in the form of a stake, which flew straight at Klein.

"**Knox's Tenth, using a disguise without leaving evidence is FORBIDDEN.**"

Dlanor's red longsword batted the stake away from the warlock with ease.

Mammon attempted another attack, with her own blue truth, "Kenji used the spare key to lock the door from the outside, then used a mechanism to put the original key in the lock from the outside. He could have used magnets, or some other mechanism!"

"**Knox's 8****th****, it is forbidden for the case to be resolved with clues that are not PRESENTED.**"

The stake was knocked aside once more. Mammon landed in her human form, and glared at the inquisitor.

Ange was running through ideas in her head, trying to find the solution. There had to be an explanation. It was somewhere, how could this room be set up.

"Come on," the warlock said. "I've given you enough red to work out what the solution is, once you combine it with what you've seen yourself. Come on ANGE USHIROMIYA!"

* * *

The group had moved to the parlour, and were sat in the various chairs. Sharon Haber had been revived from unconsciousness, but was still distressed. Everyone was there, except for Kenji. The assembled people were talking quietly in groups, until Yukari coughed to get their attention.

"I want to know what people were doing from the time dinner was finished until the time we found Haber-san. I already know about Shika, as you were wit me and Marin the whole time, so Kaname, what were you doing?"

Kaname stood to speak, "I went to my room, I had some papers to look over like my brother. I stayed there for all the time until Renji came to ask if I had seen Kenji."

"Can you prove that?" Yukari asked.

"I'm afraid not," Kaname admitted.

"Anything else you think we should know?" Yukari asked.

"Nothing."

"Next, Haber-san, could you tell us what you were doing?" Yukari turned to Sharon.

"What? You don't suspect me do you?"

"Not specifically, but we can't exclude anyone yet. Bear in mind that you knew Carl-san better than anyone else here, and thus are the most likely to have a motive. Of course, I'm not saying you did anything, but please, understand where I'm coming from."

Sharon nodded, and unsteadily got to her feet, "I went for a walk around the house. I wanted to see more of the place, this is the first time I've come here you see."

"Did you meet anyone on your walk?"

"I met Suwa-san, and we talked for a little time. It was while we were talking that we walked to my room, and found we couldn't open the door."

Yukari mused for a moment, "So it was you and Suwa-san that found the door was locked."

"Yes, Kotobuki-sama," the maid, Karen Suwa, stood and spoke, "Haber-sama and I met by chance in one of the hallways, and she said she was a little confused, so I helped her get back to her room."

"And what were you doing before that?" Marin asked from where she sat behind Yukari.

"I was cleaning up after dinner with Suru-san," she said, motioning to the cook. "Saban-kun was there too. Then I left to check the front door and windows were locked."

"Saban, Suru, I assume you two can confirm that?"

"Indeed Kotobuki-sama, Karen-san was with me and Saban-kun in the kitchen for about an hour after dinner."

* * *

"It was about an hour and a half after dinner that Carl's body was found, and he was dead for at least half an hour before that, so..." Ange mused.

"Karen is in the clear," Mammon filled in. "Assuming, of course, that the other two servants are telling the truth."

"Yes, it also puts those two in the clear at the same time," Ange said. "And we know that Shika could not have done it, that leaves just seven people, if the servants really are telling the truth."

"Well the only other option is that they're working together," Mammon pointed out.

"Or they may just have agreed to forge alibis to remove themselves from suspicion, even if they didn't kill Haber," Ange returned. She pondered for a moment, before returning her gaze to the game board.

* * *

"Now, Renji-san, what were you doing?" Yukari asked, turning to the butler.

"Shortly after dinner, Kenji-sama came and asked me for the master key, to get into his study. He said that he had mislaid his own key, so I gave him the key. I then came in here, to check if any of the guests were here, and if they required anything. I met Ritsuka-sama here."

"Roughly what time was that?"

"It was eight o'clock, so about quarter of an hour after dinner was finished. I enquired if she needed anything, and Ritsuka-sama asked for a cup of coffee. I went to the kitchen to make it, and returned here after about ten minutes."

"What happened after that?"

"Ritsuka-sama asked me a few questions about the mansion, including some things about the library. We spent a further ten minutes in conversation, before I excused myself to continue my rounds for the evening."

"Can you confirm all that, Suru-san and Mayu-san?"

"Renji came in for the coffee a little after 8," Suru said.

Mayu nodded as well, "Yes, I asked him for some. I came here to read a little, after going to my room to fetch the book. After Renji-san left, I stayed in here and kept reading, though I didn't see anyone else until Saban-san came in here searching for Kenji-san."

"Right, then Renji, did anything else happen after that?"

"No, not until I reached the Habers' room, and found Sharon-sama attempting to enter. Suwa-san asked for the master key to unlock the door, but as I did not have it, I went to try to find Kenji-sama. When I could not find him, and his room was locked, I had the other servants help me search the house for him and Carl-sama. Eventually, we had gathered everyone, and you know the rest."

Yukari nodded, "Very well then, that's enough. Now, Satsujin-san, what were you doing?"

Satsujin looked over but did not stand, "I went to my room to unpack, and look through a few things. Then I stepped out to the garden for a smoke. I was still there when Saban-san came in search of Kenji-san."

"That must have been a long smoke," Marin commented.

"Actually it took me a while unpacking, and I wanted to look through the last part of one of my manuscripts one last time, so I spent a while doing that."

"Okay, I assume there's nobody to corroborate that," Yukari said.

"No, nobody."

"Okay then, Rina-san, your turn, what were you doing?" Yukari turned to the female author.

"I went to my room, and after I'd unpacked I had a shower. The bathrooms here are en suite, so I used the shower in there. After that I spent a while writing down some new ideas for a book. My room's not that far from the Habers' so I heard the commotion outside, and went out to see what was going on."

"And nobody can confirm that?" Yukari asked.

"Nope, I wasn't taking my shower with anyone else," the woman replied sarcastically.

"Actually I can confirm that she had a SHOWER," Lana said, turning a few heads at the implications of what she had said, while Sukoshi just sighed. "My room is next to Kibou-san's, and I heard her shower RUNNING. It was on for about five MINUTES."

"I can confirm it too," Sukoshi spoke up. "I went to Lana's room to ask her about the latest book of mine she was reading, to see what she thought, and I heard the shower running then too."

"Ah, so tell me you two, what did you do?" Marin said, smirking a little.

"We went to our rooms after DINNER," Lana answered, "Our rooms are directly opposite each other in the same CORRIDOR. We went to our rooms together, then split up and went to UNPACK."

"It was a bit after eight when I went to Lana's room to talk to her," Sukoshi put in.

"So you didn't hear Kibou-san leave the room did you, Lana-san?" Yukair enquired.

"No, I did NOT. But I must admit, I fell asleep at one point, after Sukoshi LEFT."

"She has a slight habit of taking naps at odd times," Sukoshi explained. "I could tell she was sleepy, so I left her to her nap. If it helps, I didn't hear Kibou-san leave her room."

"Hm... but she still could have... well, there are several people here without alibis, so I won't point fingers yet... now there's just one person left to hear from..." Yukari grimaced slightly. "We need to find Kenji."

* * *

Kenji was sat in his study, reading papers, when he heard a knock on his door. He stood and went to the door, undoing a chain lock on the door, and turning the key in the lock, before opening the door. "Hello?" He looked out into the empty corridor. He stuck his head out, and looked left and right, but saw nobody.

"Maybe I imagined it..." Kenji mused, before shutting the door again, and resetting both locks, before he heard a click from behind him, and spun around.

A figure stood there, gun in hand, pointed straight at Kenji. Kenji stared for a moment, then smirked. "So, you've come, warlock. You've come for the one who has wronged others. Then, let thy judgement be my final one!" Kenji threw his hands in the air, and laughed.

The other figure stared at the man, and frowned, before pulling the trigger, and the bullet of eternal truth flew around the room, arcing around, and bouncing off the walls of the room, much like the stakes of purgatory, before it embedded itself in a casing of flesh, and then left it's new casing for the wall behind him.

Kenji collapsed to the ground, blood flowing from his chest. The warlock looked down at the body, then spoke, "Here is the second trial. Let the chains of the eternal truth bind you, Ange-Beatrice."

* * *

Bis Bald

BW


	4. The Second Trial

Red truth of the chapter: **Don't split the party.**

Ōkami no Naku Koro Ni, Ch4

Yukari stood, and addressed the assembled people. "We need to find Kenji. I am going to split everyone up into groups of four or five to search the house. You must stay in those groups at all times, we don't want anyone splitting off."

The groups were decided, Yukari was with Kaname, Suru, Mayu and Karen while Marin, Kira, Sharon, Shika and Saban made up the second group, and Sukoshi, Lana, Renji and Rina were in the last group.

The three groups left the parlour in search of the missing man. After about half an hour of searching the ground floor, Yukari was puzzled by the absence. They still had not found Kenji, and had search all of the ground floor. Her group went up the stairs to the first floor, which Sukoshi's group was supposed to be searching. They looked around for the other group, and Yukari noticed an open door.

"Which door is that?" she asked Kaname.

"That's Kenji's study!" Kaname exclaimed, and they all stared at each other for a moment, before dashing to the door.

Yukari was the first to reach the door, and looked through, to see the four who had been searching in the room. Rina and Lana were stood back, while Sukoshi and Renji were knelt over Kenji. There was blood on the floor, which had flowed from Kenji's chest, and Yukari knew instantly that he was dead.

Sukoshi looked around at Yukari's entrance, and shook his head at her. "He's dead, and cold. It's been a while since he died."

Yukari stared at the body. Here was her first suspect, dead. "Shit..." was all she managed to say.

* * *

"Hm... I suppose I should have guessed that was coming," Ange said, tapping her finger against her chin in thought. "So, Kenji's dead."

"Yes, quite the conundrum, don't you think?" the warlock asked, leaning back and yawning. "This one should be fun."

"Ri~ght," Ange looked back to the board.

* * *

"What happened?" Yukari seemed slightly distraught.

"We searched the whole floor except this ROOM," Lana began explaining. "When we still couldn't get in and there was no response, Renji-san and Sukoshi-kun broke down the DOOR. We found the room like THIS."

Yukari's eyes flew around the room. There was one window, which, on closer inspection, turned out to be locked from the inside. By the window was a desk, and on the desk...

"A gun?" Yukari stepped over to it, and examined it. It was a pistol, she did not know the make, but it had an attachment on the end of the barrel, which she knew to be a silencer. It was placed on the desk, and when she checked it, she saw that a single bullet had been fired from it. Looking over towards the body, she spotted where the bullet was lodged, in the wall behind where Kenji would have stood.

"So, the killer shot from about here..." she mused. She went over to the door. "This was locked when you entered?"

"Yes it WAS," Lana said.

* * *

"Am I allowed to assume that Lana and Sukoshi aren't lying?" Ange asked.

"Hm... I'll say this, **Sukoshi and Lana are permitted to lie with regards to anything they deem 'private.' They will not lie about anything directly to do with the case, however. Thus, any information about alibis or crime scenes will be correct, but they may lie, for example, about motivations where they think it is unrelated.** That do?"

"For the moment."

* * *

"Hm... and Renji, there are just the two keys to this room and the master key which I have, right?" Yukari asked.

"That is correct, Kotobuki-sama."

"Right, okay." Yukari thought. "Have you found Kenji's key?"

"It is here," Renji said, producing the key. "It was on his body."

"That's right, it was in his pocket," Sukoshi agreed.

* * *

"So let me guess, the door was locked, the window was locked, I have the master key, he has his own key, the other key is in the safe, we have a closed room, simple," Ange said.

"Essentially, that's most of the points." The warlock looked over at her boredly.

"Fine, then blue truth: The second key had been taken out of the safe by Kenji earlier. That key was how the criminal escaped this room."

"**The second key to this room is still locked in the safe. It has not been out of the safe in the last day.**"

"Then, The door wasn't really locked. Renji pretended that it was, tricking Lana and Sukoshi. Thus, Lana was not 'lying' when she told me that the door was locked."

A wedge of blue truth fired at the warlock, and he sighed. "Let's hear it from the lady herself."

* * *

Yukari pondered, "Who checked the door was locked."

"**I DID. It was definitely LOCKED,**" Lana said.

* * *

Klein batted aside the wedge, and waited, "Your move."

"This crime occurred before I received the master key, and before Haber was murdered. The criminal used the master key to escape, then planted it in Haber's room!" It was a desperate move, but maybe...

Klein stared at her, and sighed. "Fine, I won't argue with that."

"What?" Ange was surprised. "That means this room is broken."

"Maybe... why don't you suggest that theory to the gathered humans?" Klein asked, with a smirk.

* * *

Yukari explained her idea, her solution, to those gathered, but Renji shook his head.

"I'm sorry, Kotobuki-sama, but that's impossible. If you would look at the door..."

Yukari looked, and saw the problem. "A... chain lock?"

* * *

"Kyahahahaha!" The warlock burst out laughing. "You thought it would be that simple? This is my masterpiece!"

Ange growled, knowing this would be a headache-inducing experience.

* * *

"But... it could have been broken before we entered, the murderer could have cut it, we have no proof that it was set!" Yukari's words were correct. The chain was now broken, as one of the links had given way after the two men had broken down the door, breaking in half.

"So that's what it was..." Sukoshi said, grinding his teeth.

"What?"

"When we broke down the door, **I heard the sound of something snapping, like a chain breaking under force.**"

* * *

"What? That's..." Ange stared at the chain, willing it to disappear, all to no avail.

"And before you ask, **As long as the chain lock is complete, it cannot be set from outside the room.** Obviously once it's been broken though, you can 'set' it from outside. Not that that'll help you much." The warlock gave a devilish smile, and wore a look of triumph.

"Then... There is a way into the room other than the door of window."

"_This is the eternal truth: As with the previous room, there are only two ways for a person to go in or out of the room, those are the window and the door."_

"**Again, by Knox's 3rd, hidden passages are FORBIDDEN!**" Dlanor finished the sealing of the room.

"Then... then... the murderer is still in the room!"

"**The murderer left the room after murdering Kenji. After he left, he did not re-enter the room until after the chain was broken.** After all, they might have returned and be in the room now, but **the only people in the room at the moment are those you are aware of, none are hidden.**"

Ange gritted her teeth. This was ridiculous, how could this work? It was impossible. It truly... no there was a way to solve it. There had to be, she knew, there must be a way. She would give him every possibility she could think of, and force him to reveal the truth.

"After committing murder, the murderer left by the window. After breaking in, Renji closed the window when Lana and Sukoshi were distracted." Ange raised her staff, "Mammon, now!"

Mammon flew at her opponent, her tip covered with blue truth.

"Alternatively, Renji or Rina is an accomplice, and caused the sound of a chain breaking, it was not made by the chain lock. The chain lock had already been broken! Come, Stake of Wrath, Satan!"

A second stake appeared, and flew at the warlock, it's blue trail formed of Ange's truth.

"Or maybe, Kenji committed suicide! Or the gun went off accidentally! Come, Stake of Sloth Belphegor, Stake of Lust, Asmodeus!"

Two more stakes appeared, and set their deadly path towards Klein.

"Finally, maybe he set the chain lock after he was shot, and the criminal had escaped." Ange raised her staff once more, "Come, Stake of Pride Lucifer!"

A fifth stake flew at the warlock, and now all of the stakes ricocheted around the room, before embedding themselves in the warlock. Mammon in the forehead, Satan in his chest, Belphegor in his stomach, Asmodeus in his knee, and Lucifer in his leg.

"Kyahaha... so many solutions... so sad..."

Klein shook slightly, then glared at Ange, "You think... my masterpiece is that easy? Then let's begin, **Van Dine's 18th, suicide or accidental death is forbidden!**"

The two stakes of Sloth and Lust were surrounded by red, forcing them out of Klein's body.

"Next... **Kenji's death was instantaneous.**"

The stake of pride fell from Klein's leg, clattering to the floor.

"**The sound that Sukoshi heard was definitely the chain-lock snapping.**"

The stake of wrath joined her sisters on the ground. Only one stake remained, greed, sticking grotesquely out of the warlock's forehead. Klein reached up and grabbed the stake, and his hand was surrounded by red light, as he pulled the stake out.

"**The window was shut and locked when Sukoshi and Renji broke down the door.**" He threw down the stake, who landed in her human form, making a pained face. "I'm sorry... Ange-sama..."

Ange stared, all five, all of them, all of her suggestions, taken down like it was nothing.

Klein yawned, "I'll leave you be for now, I need to go set up the last bits for the next trial. Just check everything's in the right place... unless you've got any other suggestions... but your face says you don't, well see you later." Klein glowed purple, and disappeared, leaving a stunned Ange, with the five stakes, and Dlanor looking solemn.

* * *

A large room, decorated with lines of bookcases, and large chairs, awaited the warlock when he materialised. In one of the chairs sat another figure, who looked up when he appeared. "Oh, Satoru, you're back."

"Yes, I just left Beatrice with my masterpiece."

"Oh god, that one," the second figure sighed.

"Oh, come on Mist, just 'cause you couldn't solve it."

"Let's see if anyone solves it, I wonder..." the second person, 'Mist,' replied.

"Anyway, I'm just passing through, I have to go and double check my moves for the next part of the game, I'll see you later," Klein vanished once more, and the other figure leaded back in his chair.

"What are you people looking at? You want me to introduce myself? I'm Mist Valley. A warlock? I suppose you could say that. But I like to sit back and watch the show. Satoru's put on a decent one here, I imagine you'll like it... oh, but has his latest closed room got you stuck? Well, I'll drop a hint I suppose. The trick can only be completed because it's a chain. It wouldn't work if the lock used a piece of string. Not that string would make a good lock, kukuku..."

Mist yawned, "Now, away with you, let me enjoy my vigil in peace."

* * *

Bis Bald

BW


	5. The Eternal Chain

Red Truth of the Chapter: **Dlanor is Kawaii when threatening people.**

Oh yes, I don't suppose there are any artists in the house who would be willing to do an image for this story, since there's the new image manager and all that, it'd be cool to have one, but I can't draw so yeah... Full credit would of course be given to the artist. If you'd be willing/like to draw one, just PM me.

Anyway, onwards, to the truth.

Ōkami no Naku Koro Ni, Ch5

Ange was sat inside a closed room, examining it in detail. There had to be a way out of this place. It must exist, otherwise, she was trapped, forced to accept the warlock.

She had tried everything she could think of, but it would not work. She had to replace the chain lock, without leaving the room. But she could not use the trick her brother had used to escape his logic error, there could not be a person inside the room after she left. She had to find the way out.

"Ange-sama. Ange-sama!" She heard a voice calling to her, Mammon's. Ange sighed, then made the room disappear, as she returned to her parlour.

Mammon was there, and she had clearly been searching for Ange. "Ange-sama! There you are, I was worried. I made some tea." Mammon had a tray balanced on one hand, with tea cups and a pot on it.

Ange tiredly sat at the table, and accepted the tea Mammon poured for her. "Thank you Mammon."

"I hope you're not pushing yourself to hard," Mammon said, "Belphegor-nee-san would never let me hear the end of it if you were."

"Don't worry about that," Ange said. "I won't tire myself. I've just got to think up the solution to this damned puzzle."

"Why not leave it for the moment, and come back to it later? What about going back to the first trial?" Mammon suggested.

"Oh, that? I realised the answer to that while trying to solve this puzzle, at least, the howdunnit." Ange sighed, "The trouble is that damned chain. Short of him saying in red that 'the chain lock was set before the door was broken down,' we're as certain as possible that the lock was set."

"Then make him say it," Mammon said.

"Pointless, look at the crime scene," Ange said, and the area around them faded into nothingness, then reformed with them in Kenji's study. "Look at the door, the chain is attached to both the door and the frame, and it definitely snapped when the door was broken open."

Mammon examined the door, it was just as Ange had said. "But... this really is impossible."

Ange shook her head, "If it were, Dlanor would already have carted off that damn warlock." Ange shook her head, "The reason he had her come was to make it clear that the witch's side has created a solvable puzzle, they aren't cheating. Even if he hadn't made that clear, I wouldn't have called him on a logic error, unless I was certain. Claiming there is one out of desperation is always a bad move."

Mammon sighed, depressed by Ange's attitude, "Oh well... let's take another look at the room, see if we can work anything out."

Ange nodded, "Fine, see if you can deduce anything, Watson."

Mammon walked to the door, and examined it, "From the way the door opens, shooting at Kenji through it would be impossible. He's on the wrong side of the door."

"Correct, he must have been shot from somewhere around the desk, from the direction of the window." Ange spoke boredly, having been through this already in her head.

"Also, the gun's position is rather too obvious, why didn't the murderer take it with him?" Mammon asked.

"That confuses me too, though it's unlikely to help explain the 'how' of the puzzle," Ange said.

"It also tells us that the murderer was in the room when they committed murder, or shortly afterwards, after all, the gun couldn't have been put there unless you were in the room, even throwing it from the window would be unlikely to make it land there, and if the window is open, the murderer may as well be inside."

Ange nodded, "True, there's no question of the gun making it there without the murderer entering the room..." Ange blinked, having realised something, "Hang on... what if..." she thought for a moment, "It couldn't be... warlock!"

There was a shimmer, but it was not Klein who appeared, but Dlanor, "My apologies, but Lord Klein is BUSY. He will be here shortly, but until then, I will answer your QUESTIONS."

"Fine, fine, I want to ask you to repeat something in red, that okay?" Ange asked the girl.

"Of COURSE. That is, as long as it is something that I may talk ABOUT," Dlanor replied. "Lord Klein has given me permission to use certain red truths, but there are some I CANNOT."

"I understand, then first, confirm this: 'the bullet in the wall, and the one which killed Kenji, are the same bullet, and were fired from the gun found on Kenji's desk.'"

"**CONFIRMED.** Anything else, Lady BEATRICE?"

"Then... would you confirm this: the chain lock was set when the door was broken open," Ange requested.

"I CANNOT. Lord Klein has not given me permission to discuss the situation of the chain LOCK." Dlanor looked apologetic when she spoke.

"Great... oh well, at least we know now that the culprit definitely was in the room when he killed Kenji. Klein's wording was quite strange, as if he didn't want to say the murderer was in the room when he killed Kenji."

Ange thought for a little longer, then said to Dlanor, "Please can you go and ask Klein to come and play, I've got some things to test him with."

"I will see if he is AVAILABLE." Dlanor vanished, and Ange returned the room to being the witch's parlour. "Now just to test him."

A few moments later, a shimmer of purple announced the arrival of the Unending Warlock, with Dlanor behind him, "Are you ready to move on to the next trial, Ange-san?"

"Not yet, I've got some questions to ask you, Warlock," Ange replied.

"Fine then, ask away," Klein said, smirking.

"Very well, first, The chain lock was not set when the door was broken down."

"Then how was the sound of it breaking achieved?" Klein asked.

"A part of the chain lock could have been removed from it earlier, and it was then snapped by Rina when Sukoshi and Renji broke down the door, thus, the 'chain lock' did snap, and that was the sound Sukoshi heard!"

"Kiyahaha, what are you trying to achieve like this, Ange-san?"

"I want you to repeat in red: 'no part of the chain lock was removed at any point,' that will clear up my suspicion here," Ange smirked. She expected him to say it, she just needed to confirm as much as possible about the chain lock, that it wasn't fiddled with.

"Grr... challenge me like that would you?" Klein smirked, "Fine then, if that's the truth you want then habe this one instead, **THE CHAIN LOCK WAS MOST CERTAINLY SET WHEN THE DOOR WAS BROKEN OPEN! When I say 'set' I mean that all the links were present, in their correct places, and connected the door to the frame.**"

Ange stared, why had he... it was just to taunt her, not giving her the truth she asked for, but giving her that...

Wait, what had he confirmed? The window was locked from the inside, and the door was, effectively, locked from the inside. This left only one way of committing murder.

"A trap was used to kill Kenji!"

"**Knox's Eighth: It is forbidden for the case to be resolved with clues that are not PRESENTED.**" Dlanor was the one who had spoked, her sword glowing in hand.

"A trap was used which leaves no trace! For example, it was constructed with a trip wire and rubber bands, which we would overlook or not notice anyway!"

"**Knox's Eighth: It is forbidden for the case to be resolved with clues that are not presented, so turn it around, a trap which leaves no trace is forbidden,**" Klein's smirk never faultered.

"Then we just haven't found the evidence of the trap yet!" Ange was getting desperate.

"Enough!" Klein suddenly said, his smirk becoming a grimace. "I'll say it in red, no, in purple letters of the eternal truth:

_A human shot Kenji._

_ With his own hands, a human, with his feet on the floor, pointed a gun at Kenji Kurusu and pulled the trigger of a gun._

_That was the gun found on his desk._

_The gun fired a single bullet._

_ That was the bullet that killed Kenji!_

_That is the absolute, eternal truth!_"

A barrier of purple appeared around Klein, which would protect him from all theories which meant a human did not pull the trigger themselves, eliminating any possibility of a trap utterly.

Ange shook, how could she get through this? There was no way...

She gritted her teeth, then glared at the warlock, "The chain lock was broken after the commission of the crime, and then repaired somehow."

A blue wedge flew at Klein, passing through his barrier, but a red shield appeared in front of him, "**Repairing the chain lock is impossible with the tools available on the island.**"

"Then what if something else was used in place of a link? A piece of wire for example, then the noise Sukoshi heard could have been the 'chain lock' snapping, even if it was that piece of wire snapping."

"**Nothing was used to hold the chain lock together, apart from it's own links!**" Klein batted away another blue wedge with a red shield, but he seemed to be getting tired.

"Let us review the situation: there are a number of questions about this crime, let's go through them..."

Was the murderer in the room when they committed murder?

Was the victim in the room when he was murdered?

Could the murderer have passed through the window?

Could the murderer have passed through the door?

Can you make the chain lock 'set' from the outside?

"Let's start with the second question, as it is the easiest. From the positions of the body and bullet, the victim must have been in the room when he was killed." Ange spoke with determination in her voice.

"I'll agree to that, **Kenji was in his study when he was murdered.**" Klein gave the truth, answering the question.

"Now, the first question, again, from the angles involved, the murderer must have been near the window when he killed Kenji, otherwise he would have to be in the room to move the body anyway. So, the only way he could commit murder is through the locked window."

"However, you already denied the possibility of an object passing through the window while locked, and also, there was something about your latest eternal truth," Ange smiled, "The murderer committed murder with his feet on the floor, not while hanging outside a first floor window!"

"Your point of course is that even if the murderer committed murder from outside the room, he would have to enter it again, in fact I already specified, **The murderer left the room after murdering Kenji.**" Klein nodded at her line of reasoning.

"Thus, the murderer either committed murder from within the room, or had to enter the room after committing murder," Ange reasoned.

"Correct, **I confirm your last statement, one of those is certainly true,**" Klein acknowledged.

"Next question, could the killer have passed through the window? Well, he could have entered through it, but leaving through it is impossible. If he did so, somebody else would have to have entered to close the window, and then they would be trapped." As Ange spoke, Klein nodded.

"That's correct, as **the window was locked when the door was broken open.**"

"Indeed, so the murderer did not pass through the window to escape the room," Ange said.

"So, now you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth," Klein said.

"Simply put, the murderer must have left through the door, which leads to the final question."

Can you make the chain lock 'set' from the outside?

"Basically, while you have already said that the chain lock was set before the door was broken open, and that the lock cannot be set from the outside, there must be a simple way to break your lock into pieces Ange said.

"So, can you expose the method?" Klein asked.

"That... is the problem," Ange admitted. "Having come this far, I have to admit, this is a nasty problem, and I think it's best to think about it while we continue this game."

Klein nodded, "Fair enough. You made good progress, I commend you."

"Quite, the legends of Beatrice were not inaccurate," another voice spoke, and Klein sighed.

"Come out Mist, don't go around doing your little 'mysterious voice' act." Klein sounded irritated, as a new figure materialised, a patch of mist surrounding the form, until it faded to reveal the newcomer.

The figure was that of a man, who contrasted with both the warlock and the witch present about as much as possible, in a green shirt, with a black pinstriped waistcoat and black trousers, neatly combed black hair and dark skin. In his belt were a pair of handguns, both silver.

"Who the hell are you?" Ange asked, perturbed by the new appearance.

"Oh, I'm just a friend of Satoru's, who got an invitation to watch his game. I've been watching you both play, and I must say, you're doing quite well Beatrice-san."

"A friend? Are you a warlock too then?" Ange asked, raising an eyebrow at the new arrival.

"I suppose so, but I don't care much for magic and all that. I just read Klein's games, and have a good laugh at the poor sod he's drawn in this time. But for once somebody's holding their own, so much better a read when they fight back." The man coughed, "But maybe a proper introduction would be in order, I am Mist Valley, Warlock of Reason."

"Reason? What does that cover?" Ange asked.

"While Klein here specialises in the 'how,' I specialise in the 'why.' He's actually the Warlock of Logic, but he picked up the title 'Unending' somewhere along the road, about 300 years ago wasn't it?" Mist turned to his friend.

"Maybe, though I thought it was longer," Klein said, smiling.

"Maybe it was, for you," Mist said, chuckling.

"And maybe not for you," Klein laughed as well.

"After all..." Mist grinned, sending a shiver down Ange's spine.

"We are..." Klein's face was a perfect replica of Mist's.

"Warlocks! Kiyahaha!" They both proclaimed, then laughed, no, cackled. Ange stared at them, and shuddered.

* * *

"We should leave this room," Yukari said, frowning. "We can't lock the door, but we'll leave it for the police..."

The other people present agreed, and they all left, and went in search of the third group. When they met, they explained the situation, and tried to work out what to do.

"We... we need to rest... let's go to the parlour." Kaname was the one who suggested this. "It's getting late... it's already ten o'clock."

Yukari thought about it. It was true that they needed sleep, but... "We need some people on watch, and enough that we won't have to worry about people being accomplices. If we don't we're sitting ducks for the murderer... or murderers."

"Then how about four turns keeping watch? Then we have three or four people each time," Marin suggested.

That sounded reasonable to everyone, so they were divided into groups: Yukari, Rina, Saban and Renji would take first watch, Marin, Suru and Kira the second, Lana, Kaname and Sharon the third and Sukoshi, Mayu, Karen and Shika the last.

Yukari sat with her group for a couple of hours, before waking Marin to take over. Yukari was finally able to rest...

* * *

Klein smiled, "Let the witch's darkness fall over the mansion. The witching hour is nigh! Let the warlock and his minions rule this place, and let all his foes fall in his path."

* * *

Two figures were seen wandering the halls late in the night. The first was Kaname, who looked behind him furtively every now and then. The second, concealing herself as she went was Sharon, who followed him carefully.

Kaname rounded a corner, and Sharon heard him enter a room and close a door before she reached the corner. She looked round the corner and saw two doors close to each other. She went to the nearest one and opened it. Stepping inside, she turned on the light and saw that Kaname was not there.

As she turned to leave, she was confronted by a glowing blue blade, pointed right at her. She stared at the inquisitor who held it, as Sharon gasped with pain. The blade had pierced her stomach, and she collapsed to the floor.

Dlanor looked down at the body, "Die the DEATH. You have been sentenced to death by my current MASTER. I have granted you the great equaliser of DEATH." She cast down her blade by the body, which turned into a normal knife, and teleported to the other room, where Kenji was knelt by a safe, trying to unlock it.

Dlanor appeared above him, and knocked him to the floor with a kick, before taking out a gun, and pointing it at him, "For your crimes against the game board, you have been SENTENCED. **Die the DEATH. Sentence to DEATH. The great equaliser is the DEATH!**"

She pulled the trigger, and dropped the gun by the corpse. She then faded out of existence. "My part in this is DONE. Your turn Lord KLEIN."

Klein appeared in the now deserted room, deserted apart from Kenji's corpse. "Now for the final touches..." He waved his arms, and the gun and knife in each room rose into the air, then flickered, and swapped places, before falling to the ground in their new rooms. "And... then..."

Both doors slammed shut, and the locks clicked in them. "Perfect. Welcome, endless witch, to the Third and Fourth Trials. I hope you enjoy them, Ange-Beatrice."

* * *

A/N: A tip of the hat goes to Phlox Apollyon, whose attempts to solve the second trial resulted in some of the above argument between Ange and Klein.

She's the only one who's tried to fight me so far, so others are welcome to try their hands.

Bis Bald

BW


	6. The Third and Fourth Trials

For those of you who notice that kind of thing, we now have a story cover! Thanks go to Phlox Apollyon for the drawing. Now, on with the chapter.

Oh, but the chapter's red truth: **Don't worry, this trial is quite easy... kiyahaha!**

Ōkami no Naku Koro Ni, Ch6

Yukari was shaken out of her sleep by Marin, and stared at the one who had woken her for a few moments, trying to blink the sleep out of her eyes. "What time is it?" she managed to ask, seeing it was still dark.

"About 5 o'clock. Lana woke me up. Kaname and Sharon never woke her up, so when she woke later..." Yukari looked around, and saw that neither Kaname nor Sharon were present.

"Oh... shit..." Yukari muttered, then stood. The only people awake were Yukari, Marin, Lana and Sukoshi, who Lana had just shaken awake.

"Great... I expect one of them will turn up dead soon," Sukoshi said, sighing.

"Or else they were working together," Yukari said, frowning. "We'd better search for them... but we need to wake all the others up first."

There were still eight people asleep, and the four who were awake went to them and woke them each, then Lana explained what had happened.

"As you know, I was due to be woken at 4 o'clock for my SHIFT. I woke up by myself a little while ago, about 5 o'CLOCK. Sharon and Kaname were nowhere to be SEEN. I woke Marin-san, as she was the nearest person, and then we woke everyone else UP."

Yukari's face contorted slightly, this was no doubt going to result in somebody turning up dead again. "Marin, you were on second watch, what happened when you changed over?"

"Well, Suru-san was very tired, so he fell asleep while Kira-san and I woke Kaname-san. Kaname-san said he'd wake Lana-san and Sharon-san, so we left him to it, as we were both really tired at the time."

Yukari sighed, "I get it, then one of two things happened. First possibility: Kaname woke Sharon, and they went somewhere together without waking Lana. Second possibility: Kaname left the room, accidentally waking Sharon, who, thinking it suspicious that somebody had left, followed him. This makes me almost certain that Kaname was involved in yesterday's murders."

Shika gasped, "Kaname... he wouldn't..."

Yukari stared at Shika, "Kurusu-san, tell me, now that Kenji-san is dead, what do you gain in terms of inheritance?"

Shika blanched, "Um... I don't know exactly, but Kenji-kun had no children, so Kaname, I and our children are the only heirs..."

"And how much was Kenji-san worth? A few tens of million yen? Or more?" Yukari pressed.

"I don't know exactly... but it's a lot, I'm pretty sure..." Shika frowned. "No... Kaname wouldn't... Kenji was kind enough to look after us all, he gave me something to do with as I liked, and Kaname worked with him..."

"So who is second in charge of the company?" Yukari asked.

"K-Kaname..." Shika said, biting her lip.

"There we have it," Yukari said. "I propose that Kaname is the culprit."

* * *

Ange had just uttered to same blue truth as her piece, and sat smiling at the warlock. Klein yawned, seemingly bored, which made Ange grit her teeth, "You don't think much of that?"

"Not really. All you have is circumstantial evidence. Mist, as you're here, why don't you give her another example of a theory that would explain the events so far."

Mist sighed, then stood from his chair, reaching for the gun in his right holster, and pointing it at Klein, "Kaname needed to do something in a different part of the mansion, and thus left, with Sharon accompanying him so that nobody was alone. They didn't wake Lana as she is a much younger person, who they thought of as rather a child, which she is, in appearance at least, and therefore needed the rest. They simply have not yet returned from their trip."

"I resent that COMMENT." Dlannor said, "Just because I am a child, it does not mean I need more SLEEP."

"Besides the dubiousness of that, can you show that Kaname needed something, otherwise that argument breaks Knox's 8th," Ange said.

"Alternative: Sharon wished to go and see the room where her husband died, and see him again. They knew that other people would not want them disturbing the crime scene, and so did not wake Lana."

"Blue truth EFFECTIVE," Dlanor said.

"Well, it's still not that impressive, anyone can come up with a reason they could have left, but can you come up with 'the' reason they left?" Klein yawned again. "Probably not yet, let's continue the game."

* * *

"No... I can't believe that... Kaname... he wouldn't..." Shika glared angrily at Yukari, then ran from the room.

"Madam!" Suru quickly ran after his mistress, and Yukari stood, "Damn, we can't have people running off..."

"I'd let her go for a bit. But Saban, Karen, go after her," Sukoshi said, and the two servants did as they were told.

"Why are you ordering them after her!" Yukari angrily asked the man.

"_By my authority as Game Master, I may order all pieces but the detective and the Watson!_" Sukoshi grinned a slightly sadistic grin and he shouted out his red truth.

Mayu, Rina, Kira and Renji suddenly froze, while those who existed on a higher plane as well continued as they had, Sukoshi grinning, Yukari glaring, Marin tensed, and Lana with a stern look in her eyes.

"Just be glad I didn't send the butler away as well, kiya, you can still use him," Sukoshi's grin returned to a more placid face, and the humans unfroze. "So, maybe we should go in search of our missing pair.

Yukari continued to glare, but nodded her agreement. She knew what they would likely find: Sharon, dead.

* * *

It was a little while later that they found the room. Lana Rina had smelt something strange, and they had soon found the source, as a trail of red went under a door.

But what they found surprised them, for the trail of blood went to two doors, one adjacent to the other. Yukari hurriedly opened the nearest door with the master key, and revealed the body of Sharon, lying in a pool of blood.

There was a wound in her stomach, and she appeared to have been stabbed... but lying by her body was a gun, not a knife.

Next, they tried the other door, but as Yukari was about to put the key in the lock, Renji stopped her, "Kotobuki-san, that key won't open this door."

"What?"

"This room is special, so there is only one key, and the master key does not work on it. The key is usually kept by Kenji-sama, but it was not on his body..."

"Great, then Renji, Sukoshi, Kira, I need you to break down another door." Yukari stood back, as the three prepared to ram the door.

As the door came down, Yukari saw the inside of the room. A safe, against the wall to the room they had just been in, was the most prominent feature, aside from what lay in front of it. Kaname's body was sprawled in front of it, blood pouring from his upturned left temple, and a bloody knife lain by him.

"Kaname-san..." Yukari stared. How had this happened? Kaname was supposed to be the culprit! He could not be...

* * *

"**Kaname is dead. Sharon is dead.**" Klein cruelly cut off her last hope. "**Of the four who have died so far, none is the culprit.**" Klein smiled, as Ange felt her reason, the motive, all of it, fall away.

"And before you ask, I'll confirm, _This is the eternal truth: There is no way for a human to enter or leave either of these rooms except by the single door and window in each room. There is no direct way of passing between the rooms for any person._"

Klein smirked as he continued, "**Let us refer to the room Kaname was found in as 'the Safe room...'**"

"Not very safe," Mist put in with a cackle.

"**...and the room Sharon was found in as 'the other room.' In both rooms, the doors were locked before you arrived.**

**The windows were, and are still, locked from the inside.**

**Aside from those you are aware of, there is nobody inside either room.**

**There was nobody you were unaware of in either room when you entered.**

**Sharon died from a single stab wound to her stomach and the weapon was the knife found in the safe room.**

**Kaname was killed by a single bullet wound to the left temple and the weapon was the gun found in Sharon's room.**

**Both received the wounds in the rooms they are currently in, and did not leave those rooms after being wounded.**

**The safe room only has one key, and cannot be opened by the master key.**"

Ange sighed, "The keys have not been presented, they could be anywhere."

"Oh, really?" Klein smirked.

* * *

Yukari knelt down to check Kaname's body, and her hand felt something in his pocket, and she pulled out two keys.

Renji gasped, "Those are the key to this room... and to the adjacent room!"

* * *

"**It is as Renji said, the keys to both rooms were found on Kaname's body. The duplicate key for the other room is in the safe in the safe room.**"

Ange stared, no, this was... ridiculous.

"So, how do you like it? How do you like the third and fourth trials? Kiyahaha!" Klein's smile became even scarier.

* * *

Yukari continued her examination of Kenji's body. From what she could tell, the bullet was still inside his head. There was one other thing odd, there seemed to be little flecks of painted plaster in his hair. It was the same shade as the wall, and when she glanced at it, she saw it was crumbled a little in placed, and there were a couple of indentations in places.

She stood, thinking there was nothing else to be gained from the body. She then examined the safe. It had a dial on the front, and when she turned the dial, it clicked a little, not that loudly, but in the stillness of the room, it seemed a lot louder.

Sighing, she went to the other room, noticing as she did that the trail of blood seemed to lead between the two bodies, and she examined Sharon's body. The only thing she noticed were tiny pieces of black material around the wound.

She stood, and sighed, "Seriously, it's like you weren't even trying, Warlock."

* * *

"It looks good to start with, but this closed room can be broken in a few minutes," Ange sighed.

"Oh dear, I didn't think this would take you long, but I needed to kill off a couple more, including the prime suspect," Klein smiled, "So, give me the blue..."

* * *

A book was slammed shut, and a figure raised their head, "I will tell you what occurs next. Ange reveals the truth, but... Klein doesn't want it given to those who don't think, so, have a think, if you haven't reached the truth yet. But I will say, **ANGE-Beatrice most certainly reaches the truth of the third and fourth trials.** Now, enjoy the next parts of this story."

* * *

Klein looked tired, his red barriers lay in shards, and a blue stake was in his shoulder. "**Kaname's death was instantaneous! He couldn't have locked himself in there after being shot.**"

Ange smiled, "That doesn't matter, as **** *** ****** ***** *** ** * ***!"

Klein howled as another blue stake flew at him, piercing his chest. "I give... Lady Ange-Beatrice, I give the third and fourth trials to you."

Ange smirked, "I knew you would in the end, and I'll make you give over the entire game, Warlock. I will defeat you!"

* * *

Bis Bald

BW


	7. The Fifth, The Sixth, The Seventh Trials

A/N: Sorry for the delay with this chapter, but I had exams the last two weeks. Now I'm free for the next three months though, so I should have plenty of time to finish this. After all, there are only eight more people to kill... kiyahaha.

Red truth of the chapter: **Exams are a drag.**

Ōkami no Naku Koro Ni, Ch7

Klein was leaning back in his chair, sighing deeply, "Oh dear... that didn't go as well as I had hoped."

"Well, it was one of your easier ones. Look on the bright side, you get another fun one next... it is next, isn't it?" Mist asked from his chair.

"Yeah, it's that one next. Though I need a fair bit of time to set it up properly. Urgh... such a pain." Klein yawned. "Oh well, I suppose I should get started..."

* * *

Yukari stepped out of the room where Sharon lay, and locked the door. She locked the other room as well, then turned to the others, who were waiting in the hallway. "I think we should go..."

"But what do we do now?" Mayu asked, sounding scared. "Whoever killed them is still out there..."

"No, I don't think he is," Yukari said. "These two... I think that..." She explained her theory, and while those assembled seemed surprised, they accepted her theory, and agreed that it should be safe now.

"We should..." Yukari began to speak, when she heard something ring... a phone... "Who's phone is that?"

Rina quickly pulled out her phone, which was ringing loudly, and looked at the display. "Oh gods... thank goodness." She cancelled the incoming call, and dialled 110 swiftly, and put the phone to her ear.

"Hello? Yes, I'd... like to report a murder... well... four murders... at Kirisuto Mansion. My name is Rina Kibou. Our phones weren't getting signal until just now... yes... when? Ah, yes... and the bridge is down. Okay... yes, I will." Rina ended the call, and looked at the others, "They'll be here as soon as they can, and they're bringing something to get across the river."

"Good... but how soon is soon?" Yukari asked.

"It's a way off any of the towns, so it will be several hours at least." Rina said, through clenched teeth. "And the roads are in a state from the storm yesterday."

"Great..." Yukari sighed. "Well... we should probably..." Whatever Yukari had been about to say was cut off by a scream.

"That was Suwa-san!" Renji exclaimed, and then ran in the direction of the scream. Yukari was after him a moment later, and the rest of the group followed.

Yukari ran after Renji, but he knew the house well, and was faster than her, and soon she had lost him as he ran for his fellow servant. Looking back, Yukari saw Marin coming up close behind her, and Sukoshi and Lana right behind her. Of the other three who had been with them, there was no sign.

"Shit... we got separated..." Yukari cursed. She looked back, but suspected that returning would be no good.

* * *

"By the time our pieces return, the others will most likely be gone." Ange said, frowning, as she and Mammon looked on.

"And some of them dead, most likely," Mammon replied.

"Quite." Ange sighed as she leaned back in her chair. "Well... I suppose we should follow the scream."

* * *

Yukari and the three accompanying her walked towards where the scream had been. Oddly, most of the doors were wide open, but revealed nobody who could have uttered the scream. They continued on, until the reached the end of the corridor, where, almost as though it were placed there to tempt them, a door stood, closed, and when Yukari tried the handle, it was locked.

Trembling slightly, she put the master key in the lock, and turned it, before pushing the door open.

Three bodies lay there, those of Renji, Saban and Karen. Each was face-down, and lying in their own blood, and were lain in a triangle, each of their heads pointing to the centre of the gruesome shape. In the centre of the room, three pistols were placed, each lying along the same line as one of the bodies, the muzzles pointing inwards, and in the centre was a single key.

Yukari quickly stepped to the key, and picked it up. She tried it in the door, and it turned.

"Another closed room," Yukari muttered.

"Not quite," Marin said, as she stepped over to one of the two windows, "This window isn't locked."

"But this is the fourth FLOOR. How could somebody get DOWN?" Lana asked.

"I don't suppose there's a convenient drainpipe?" Yukari asked.

"Nope," Marin said, looking out the window. "There's a slight ledge... but it doesn't reach anything you could climb down with."

* * *

Ange turned to the warlock, "Give it to me in red."

Klein shrugged, "Fine, **There is no way from either of the windows in this room to the window of another room, or down to the ground without entering the room or using another device. The same applies in reverse. **Of course, a device can only exist if you find it."

Ange nodded, "As I expected, it wouldn't be a good murder if the murderer could just climb out the window like that."

Klein smiled, "Then, shall we continue?"

* * *

Yukari looked out the open window herself. To her left, the wall turned a corner showing that this room was on the end of this part of the house. The window ledge continued a fair way along towards the corner. To her right, the ledge stopped a little too far from the next window to safely step across.

She pulled her head back into the room, and looked around the room again. The door was opposite the open window, and the second window was now on her right, looking from the window. When Marin checked it, it was locked from the inside.

Looking out that second window, Yukari saw that it was facing onto the central part of the house, where the structure dipped for some reason. They were on the third floor, and the drop was straight down to be on level with the floor of the floor below them.

Looking back at the room, Yukari pondered, before kneeling down and examining the bodies.

Each had a single bullet wound, Renji in head, Karen in the chest and Saban in the stomach. Yukari noticed the touch, and grimaced. She had seen this before, at least, in writing.

"I see..." Sukoshi said, breaking the silence which had stolen over the room, "So... I was correct in my guess, wasn't I, Ange Ushiromiya?"

Yukari, or Ange, looked up at the mention of the name she had forsaken. "What do you...?"

"Gouge the forehead, and kill, gouge the chest and kill, gouge the stomach and kill," Sukoshi frowned, "Whoever the murderer is, they have a liking for the famous. Or maybe it's just because you're here, Ange-san."

"What are you talking about? Yukari, what is this?" Marin was confused. Of course she would be, she did not know.

"I gave that name up five years ago, I am Yukari Kotobuki now. It has nothing to do with what is happening now," Ange said, glaring at the man.

"I'm not so sure about that," Sukoshi replied. "After all, they were killed like that..."

"But are you forgetting, there have not been 'six chosen by the key,' and nobody has 'torn apart the two who are close.'"

"Maybe, but this is no coincidence," Sukoshi said, staring Ange down.

"Anyway, at the moment, I am Yukari, and we need to work out what happened here," Yukari shook herself, before returning to the matter at hand. "They were each killed with a single shot, and there are three guns..."

Lana examined the closest gun. The pistols were all revolvers, and it was easy to see that a single bullet had been fired from each.

* * *

"Confirm it in red, the bullets fired from the three pistols here were those used to kill Renji, Saban and Karen," Ange looked to the warlock.

"**Confirmed.**" The warlock's reply was prompt, and expected.

"In that case, the three victims killed each other."

"**All three victims went unconscious immediately after they were shot. For all intents and purposes, they died instantaneously.**"

"Then they committed simultaneous murder!" Ange suggested.

"Look at where the guns are, and the bodies, it's clear that **after the murder was committed, somebody set the weapons and bodies up as they are now.**"

Ange grimaced. There was no way out of this, but just one last try, "There are five living people currently in this room."

Klein looked at her dully, "Oh come on, you're not going to try all that again, are you? If there is a fifth person in this room, then where are they? The eighth person, you haven't seen them, and there's nowhere to hide."

The two were suddenly enveloped by the room itself.

"So, Ange, let us look, the only furniture in here is a sofa, a desk, a bookcase and a little table in the corner. Now, tell me Ange, where is the eighth person?"

"Under the sofa! Inside the sofa!" a blue stake plunged into the sofa, but bounced out, as a red barrier covered the sofa.

"**There is nobody under the sofa, or hidden inside the sofa.**"

"In the desk, under the desk, behind the bookcase, maybe under the table!" Ange's stakes flew into each of those places, but bounced off the red barriers which formed.

"**Nobody is hiding in any of those places.**" Klein sighed after his red was finished. "Are you done yet?"

"Not yet... They are..."

"**Living or dead, there are only 7 people in this room!**" Klein interrupted her, irritation in his voice, "So are you done *now*?"

Ange smiled, "Not quite, I suggest One of these bodies is actually the culprit in disguise. They committed three murders, moved one of the bodies out of this room, and pretended to be dead when we entered!"

Klein looked ever more irritated, "**The seven people in this room are as follows: Sukoshi, Lana, Yukari, Marin, Renji, Sharon, Saban.**"

"Then one of the three is not dead. They committed two murders, and then pretended to be dead," Ange's blue stake flew at Klein, who sighed again.

"**Renji is dead. Karen is dead. Saban is dead.**" The blue stake fell as it struck the red barrier around Klein. "Have you finished yet?"

"Not in the least," Ange said, smiling. "I was just checking that there was no stupid trick involved with this murder, like someone playing dead. I wanted to be sure that it really is a closed room."

"Well then, let me perfect the closed room:

**The door is locked. There are three keys which may open it, which are: the master key, the key found in the room, and the key which has been locked in the safe in 'the safe room' all day.**

**One window is locked from the inside. It is impossible to lock either window from the outside.**

So, are you prepared, Ange-Beatrice?" Klein smirked as he asked.

"Of course, warlock."

* * *

Bis Bald

BW


	8. The Birdcage

Apologies for the delay in a new chapter, I've somehow been considerably busier than I anticipated. However, here is a new chapter, inall it's glory.

Ōkami no Naku Koro Ni, Ch8

Ange raised her staff, and threw a blue truth at the warlock, "The murderer left the room by the open window, then dropped down to the ground below."

"**Dropping from that height without something to slow the fall would result in instant death.**" The warlock was quick to counter.

"Then they used a rope to climb down."

"**Knox's 8****th****. No rope has been presented.**"

"We haven't searched for a rope yet..."

"Then look for one!" Klein smiled as the pieces on the game-board searched frantically for a rope.

* * *

"I found something!" Marin called from the room she had searched, which was adjacent to the room the three bodies were found in.

When Yukari ran in, she saw a length of rope in Marin's hands, which was easily long enough to get down a floor.

* * *

"The culprit used this rope, and climbed down a floor."

Klein smiled, then replied, "Then why isn't it tied to something in the room where the bodies were found?"

Ange raised an eyebrow, then realised what he meant. "The culprit would have had to tie the rope to something to climb down..."

"...And then he couldn't go back in to untie it." Klein finished the sentence.

Ange grimaced, then tried to attack from another angle, "There is a ladder within the grounds of this mansion, which is tall enough to reach the top floor!"

"I'll save you the trouble of trying to find one. **There is no such ladder. The longest ladder within the grounds of this mansion is two stories tall.**"

Ange frowned once more, and thought through the room once more: one unlocked window, the only way to escape the room, the murderer must have left the room...

"There is one way the murderer could have left the room. The murderer jumped out the window, his body landed below."

"Then where is the body? Unless you're saying he's a zombie. **There is no body below the window.**"

"Another living person removed the body. There are plenty of people who could have done this." Ange's blue stake flew at Klein, throwing him to the ground outside that window, landing just beneath it.

"Argh!" Klein cried out in pain as the stake nailed him to the ground. "That was an interesting attack... Ange-san, but... don't you agree, if your theory is right, the murderer must have committed suicide, right?"

Ange gritted her teeth, as she looked down at Klein, already knowing what he would say.

"**Van Dine's 18****th****: suicide or accidental death are forbidden.**" The blue stake flew from Klein's chest, and he leapt up into the air again.

Ange faced the warlock outside the window, her window of opportunity to explain the crime so to speak, then she glowered at him. "Fine... let's leave this for a while. There are still five people to die."

Klein smiled, "Excellent, I'll corner you now, Ange-BEATRICE." Klein threw his head back, and laughed, a cold laugh, cruel and jarring. From the sidelines, Dlanor frowned, pouting slightly, as Mammon looked scared.

Even amidst the hellish cackle, Ange smirked, and murmured, "You're too arrogant, warlock."

* * *

Mayu Ritsuka and Kira Satsujin walked through the hall on the second floor, carefully looking around. They had been separated from the others, and ended up wandering around by themselves.

"Wh-what do you think the others are doing?" Mayu timidly asked.

"I don't know... they probably ran after that scream, and I don't wanna know what they found..." Kira gritted his teeth. "Dammit, who the hell is doing this?"

Mayu shivered, before speaking, "I heard from Shika-san, there's a strange rumour in this mansion. Apparently, the previous owner died here, and his spirit still lives here, and waited for his opportunity to strike down those who took his home as their own."

"So there's a ghost? Yeah right," Kira spoke contemptuously, "This isn't some crappy horror story, what next, the ghost has magical powers."

"Oh, I assure you, I do." A voice spoke from behind the pair, who turned when they heard it. "Although I'm not a 'ghost.' I prefer to be called a 'warlock.'"

"Wh-who the hell are you?" Kira stared, terrified. This person had crept up on them, without them hearing him.

"Ah... the anti-magic toxin is strong in you. I should have killed you sooner," the warlock raised his blade, the zweihänder shining with an eerie glow.

"Wh-what is this?" Mayu stepped back, then turned and fled, with Kira quickly following. The warlock watched, as they each ran into separate rooms, on opposite sides of the hall, and slammed the doors shut in an attempt to escape their deaths.

"Come, my servants, one of law, I call thee, Barr, one of life, I call thee, Freya." Klein spoke as a pair of red circles glowed on the ground, and two figures rose from them.

One was a giant man, with red skin, and bat-like wings, who could only be a devil of some type, and took the name Barr, the 57th pillar. The second was a slightly build woman, with a shock of white hair, which just failed to conceal her horns. She had the name of Freya, the 58th pillar.

"My servants, you have your duties." Klein smirked.

"Just be glad that Lord Valley leant me to you," Freya said, before she vanished.

"Ah, Freya, always like that," Barr laughed, before he too disappeared.

* * *

In the room Mayu had hidden in, she was standing well back from the door. By chance, they had been near both her and Kira's rooms, so they had been able to get in and lock the doors. She held the key in her hand, and stared at the locked door with terror.

"A locked door? Normally they are anathema to witches, but not to Lord Klein," the voice of Freya spoke, as she stepped out of a shadow, holding a rapier, "There is nothing more for you to do as a piece. Excuse me, but I cannot do anything but what he commands, so please, don't think ill of me."

Mayu stared at the apparition, and at the glinting blade, which flashed before her eyes, then plunged into her chest. As it did so, a sound like an explosion rang out.

* * *

In the room opposite, Kira heard the explosion, and stared at the locked door, fearful.

"Now now, your duty as a piece is done, the rules dictate that you must be put away now," Barr said as he appeared, apparently unarmed.

"Damn you!" Kira grabbed the nearest object: a lamp, and rushed at the devil.

Another explosion rang out, as Barr's hand touched Kira's stomach, and blew a small hole through it. Kira slumped to the ground, and dropped the lamp by his side.

* * *

Klein smiled, as his two servants returned to him.

"The deed is done..." Freya began.

"...didst thou not hear a noise?" Barr finished.

"Thank you. You may return for now, I will call you if you are needed."

"I still can't believe Lord Valley hired me out," Freya pouted.

"Oh come now, Lord Klein is one of the warlocks who allowed you to exist," Barr said. "Along with our other close friends, the five of them allowed us to exist, each of us was created by one, and accepted by the other four."

"It takes two to make a world," Klein spoke, "But how many to make a universe?"

Freya and Barr both looked quizzically at the warlock. "What's the difference?" Freya asked.

"Oh... nothing," Klein said, and smiled, "At least, not to those who don't understand."

"Well count us amongst them," Barr said, shrugging, as he descended into a magic circle, along with Freya in a separate circle.

"After all, we're only furniture," Freya said, smiling wryly as they disappeared.

Klein smirked as they vanished, then his smiled broadened, "Now for one last trick..."

* * *

Yukari and the other three left the three dead in the room they lay in, with Yukari locking the door after them. "We need to find the others," she said when she had finished.

"But where will they have gone?" Sukoshi asked, looking thoughtful.

"For their own safeties, they ought to have gone to their rooms," Marin suggested.

"Where are their rooms?" Yukari asked.

"Mayu-san's and Kira-san's are on the second floor, Rina-san's is next to mine and Sukoshi's rooms on the first floor, and Sharon-san's is on this FLOOR. The servant's quarters are on the ground FLOOR." The rest of the group stared at Lana, all wondering the same thing.

"Uh... Lana, how do you know all that?" Sukoshi asked.

"I heard Renji-san giving Saban-san instructions EARLIER." Lana pouted slightly, "I only heard it by ACCIDENT..."

"Well, I don't know if Shika-san will have thought about her safety in her current state, so let's try Mayu and Kira's rooms," Yukari suggested, and the others followed her.

* * *

When they reached the rooms, they saw Suru Chouri, the cook, trying to force one of the doors. "Ah, Kotobuki-sama! You still have the master key right? I've been trying to get into Satsujin-sama's room to check if he was alright, and it's locked and he won't answer..."

Yukari's eyes flitted to the others present gravely, and she stepped forward, and unlocked the door.

As she opened it, they were all prepared for the sight that met them. Kira was lain, sprawled on his front, a wound showing, having bled from his back.

"The room opposite..." Suru said suddenly, and the others turned to see him trying the handle, and it too was locked.

Yukari moved swiftly to the door, and knocked loudly, "Ritsuka-san! Can you hear me? Ritsuka-san!"

She gave in when her hand began to ache from the knocking, and morbidly drew out the key again. The lock clicked as it was unlocked, and the door opened. The scene was no less grisly, as Mayu lay dead, face up, with a bullet wound in her chest.

"There's something in her hand..." Sukoshi spoke, after they had got over the first shock of a second body.

He stepped over to the body, and opened the palm, and a key dropped out.

Yukari needed no confirmation, from the servant who was stood behind them, or from the warlock in red, but that confirmation was coming anyway...

...or so she thought.

"**That key... that's the key to Satsujin-Sama's room.**" Suru spoke with the red letters leant to him by the game master, and Yukari, and Ange-Beatrice, stared at the cook, befuddled.

* * *

Bis Bald

BW


	9. The Eighth and Ninth Trials

A/N: Okay... I have no excuse. Well, I kinda do, I've had lot's of stuff to do with university to deal with lately, but none-the-less, I apologise for taking so long to get this chapter up. There aren't many more, so enjoy the mystery while you can.

Red truth of the chapter: **Writing mysteries is hard.**

Ōkami no Naku Koro Ni, Ch9

Yukari looked curiously at the chief, "You're sure?"

"Yes, **that key is definitely the one to Satsujin-Sama's room.**" Suru's words were once more backed by the red truth.

Yukari took the key, and tried it in Satsujin's door. It fit, as she knew it would.

"So, if Satsujin's key is in Mayu's hand... where's Mayu's key?" Sukoshi asked, with a grim smile on his face.

Yukari looked inside Satsujin's room, and, almost expecting it, a second key was there, lying on the floor a little way from the door. She picked it up, and turned to Suru. "Which door does this open?"

The chief stared at it, then bit his lip, "**That is the key to Ritsuka-sama's room.**"

"Impressive, I can't even see any difference between the keys," Sukoshi said, raising a brow. "I suppose you have to learn which key is to which door."

"Indeed sir, I've worked here for some time, and I've learnt the keys to most of the rooms," Suru looked as though he wanted to be proud of this, but now was, of course, not the time. "The way to tell, is, if you notice, **Each of the room keys has a number on them. From that, you can tell the floor, and number of the room.**"

Yukari nodded, "So, the keys to each room were locked in the opposite rooms?" She went over to the window, and saw immediately that it was locked from the inside. "Marin, can you check the window in the other room?"

Marin disappeared briefly, then returned, "It's locked too."

* * *

"_This is the Eternal Truth: These two rooms each have only two ways a person can enter or exit: the windows and doors, of which there is only one of each in each room._**In each case, before you unlocked the doors with the master key, both windows and both doors were locked. **_It is impossible to lock or unlock the windows from the outside.__There exist only three keys which open each door, the master key, the keys presented, and a duplicate of each of the room keys._** The duplicates are in the safe in the safe room, and have not left there since your arrival.**"

The red and eternal truths bound the rooms, sealing off the exits. Chains of red and purple locked down the windows and doors, preventing escape.

Ange raised an eyebrow, then spoke, "Let us confirm the causes of death, repeat in red: 'Kira is dead, Mayu is dead. They were both killed by shooting."

"**That is all confirmed**," Klein said, reclining in his chair, and watching Ange, as she perused the sealed rooms.

"The victims survived for a time after they were shot. They closed the windows after they were shot."

"**After they were shot, the victims were unable to move. They both went unconscious immediately.**" Klein batted away the blue wedge easily, and yawned. They both knew this part would be boring, the usual confirmations, the usual simple suggestions, it was the early-game of the trial.

"There were two murderers, and each hid in their respective rooms, escaping after we opened the doors."

"**Living or dead, immediately before you unlocked the doors, only one person was in each room.**"

"The victims were shot through the ceiling, or through the wall, or..."

"**In each case, the murderer was in the same room as the victim when they shot them.**"

Ange closed her eyes and thought hard. Already this room was locked, the warlock never wasted time. He eliminated every angle of attack before she reached it.

Mammon tapped her shoulder, "May I, Ange-sama?"

Ange nodded, and Mammon stepped forward, "Klein-sama, may I make a suggestion?"

Klein sighed, "What?"

"You said there was no way for any person to enter or leave the room, except through the door or window, correct?"

"Yes," Klein said, yawning again.

"It is possible for a person to pass through the door or window when locked!" Mammon appeared by the locked door, and put her hand on it, a blue portal opening allowing her passage.

Klein growled, "Dlanor!"

"Yes, Lord KLEIN." Dlanor appeared, her red sword slicing the portal apart. "**There is no way for a human to pass through the window or door while LOCKED.**"

Mammon jumped back, then smiled, "How about an object then? The key that was found in Kira's room, on the floor, was pushed under the door frame."

Mammon transformed into her stake form, and flew, with a trail of blue, under the door and into the room. But as she reached the other side, a red chain wrapped around her, holding her barely inside the room.

"**It is not possible for a person to push a key under the door to the position it was found in while the door is locked.**" Klein grabbed the chains binding Mammon, and pulled them, forcing her out of the room.

Ange looked on, already certain that Mammon's ruse would not last long. Mammon was playing for time, while Ange thought, giving her mistress some thinking time.

The trick had to involve the key in Kira's room. The one in Mayu's hand had to have been placed there carefully, you could not just put it in at random, the killed must have placed it in her hand. The other one was lying on the floor, almost inviting a question. That must be the loop in the closed room. Now she just needed to tug at the loop, and make it larger.

Mammon was continuing, "The key was knocked by the door when we opened it, leading to it landing where we found it." It made sense, and explained the problem, and Klein bit his lip, as her tried to find a suitable way to deny her.

"**The key could not have been knocked by the door, you would have noticed it if... gah... URGH.**" Dlanor started coughing hard, and doubled over, and Klein was quickly by her side.

"Dammit, that's too subjective, and with a dead body there, **It would have been reasonable for them to miss the key moving.**"

Klein glared at Mammon, as Dlanor's coughing stopped, and she stood up straight again. "You... are becoming a thorn in my side, so I'll make it clear: **The key was not moved by the door opening.**"

"Then there's another way to put objects into the room while the door and window are locked for example..."

"**There is no such way. Objects can only enter through the door and window.**" Klein was irritated now, the anger in his eyes flaring, as Dlanor stood behind him, seeming a little worried.

"I see... so that's it." The other three turned when Ange spoke, her voice breaking the silence. "Seriously, Warlock, you could have done a much better job here."

Klein smiled, "Oh? You think you've solved the riddle."

Ange nodded, "I'll show you that your riddles can be unwound, Warlock. Now repeat it in red: 'Before we opened the door to Kira's room, the keys were in the same places as we found them.'"

Klein's face kept steady, but Ange could tell he was worried, "I... I refuse."

Ange smiled, "Then at least, repeat this: Before we opened the door to Kira's room, the keys were both in their respective rooms."

Klein sighed, and nodded, "Very well, **Before you opened the door to Kira's room, the two keys were in the rooms you found them in.**"

Ange was slightly surprised by that. She had expected one of that the key in Kira's room would not have been inside the room before they unlocked the door. What she had thought was that Suru had the key, and placed it in the room when the rest of them were in Mayu's room.

Ange took a deep breath, then attacked again, "After we entered Kira's room for the first time, the key to Mayu's room was moved by a person. That person was Suru Chori."

Klein smirked, "So, Ange-san, you think you've solved the mystery, so tell me, how were the murders committed?"

"It's quite simple. Although I don't know the order, the murderer killed both Mayu and Kira, then made sure their windows were locked. He took Kira's key, and locked Kira's room from the outside, then placed the key in Mayu's hand. He then took her key, locked the room from the outside, and pushed the key under the door of Kira's room. When we entered, Suru moved the key in Kira's room before we noticed it, while we were examining Mayu's room. He reason the key was not given to Suru in the first place was so that we would not realise it was absent, as it were. If we had looked carefully, and seen no key, then it appeared afterwards, we would know it had been placed there."

Klein smiled, and clapped slowly. "Very good, very good. A clean explanation, one that covers everything."

Ange smiled back, "Thank you, now... we have business with someone..."

* * *

Yukari turned to the chef, "Chori-san, I think you ought to tell us the truth."

Chori was taken aback, "What do you mean?"

"Tell us, who is the murderer?" Yukari asked, turning on him angrily. "Who are you helping to kill?"

"I-I'm not doing anything of the sought... how could I...?" Chori looked at each of the other four faces. All were looking at him, knowing the truth of what he had done.

He fled.

The four were after him in a moment, but he knew the house better than them. They had soon lost him...

Yukari growled, "We need to find him. He's an accomplice to murder!"

* * *

Bis Bald

BW


	10. The Final Trials

Ōkami no Naku Koro Ni, Ch10

Yukari sighed, they had clearly lost the runaway cook. "Great... now we need to catch him."

Marin stood by her, looking inquisitively at Yukari, "Hey, Yukari-chan... I was wondering, you said Chouri-san was an accomplice, not the actual murderer, how can you be so sure?"

Yukari was taken aback by the question, "Oh... well can you imagine him coming up with half these murders? Also, consider the first two murders. Saban-kun and Karen-san confirmed that Chouri was with them during the interval for murder. Both of them are now dead, and I find it unlikely they were both in on the murders and both wound up dead."

* * *

Ange sighed, "Of course, the main reason I know he isn't the killer is **Van Dine's 11****th****: a servant may not be the culprit.**"

Klein smirked, "Indeed, between that and the fact that **Carl Haber, Sharon Haber, Kenji Kurusu and Kaname Kurusu are not the culprit**, that doesn't leave many potential culprits."

Ange nodded, "The only people who can be the culprit are Shika Kurusu, Rina Kibou, Kira Satsujin and Mayu Ritsuka. Of course, the last two currently seem rather unlikely, although you haven't confirmed they are dead yet."

Klein smiled, "Well now, why would I just tell you that?"

Ange sighed, "Like drawing blood from a stone..."

* * *

"The real question now is, who is the true murderer?" Marin asked, her brow furrowed.

"Yes... while we're on the subject, we do need more information on the suspects, do you two know anything useful?" Yukari asked the other pair.

"Hm... well, I know a little about the family," Sukoshi said. "The bulk of the fortune was owned by Kenji-san. Kaname-san also had a fair amount from his days in business, while Shika-san was the poorest. She came to live here with her daughter mainly because she had too little to keep herself and her daughter... the girl has suffered from a disorder which meant she requires constant attention and care. She's currently in a hospital, where her cousin, Kaname-san's son, visits her regularly for her mother's sake, to make sure she's okay."

"Also, the daughter's condition seems like it might be curable, but the treatment would cost a lot of money..." Sukoshi noticed the look in Yukari's eyes, as she landed upon a potential motive.

"Interesting, and the three other writers? What about them?"

Lana replied, "Mayu-san is a fairly new writer, and it is her first time meeting most of the family, she had only met Kenji-san BEFORE. Kira-san has been here before on occasion, and has met the whole FAMILY. I believe he has also met the Habers on a previous VISIT. Rina-san is an author who was previously published by a company which Kenji-san recently took OVER. She was here to convince him that she is worth keeping on as a WRITER."

Yukari nodded, "Any reason any of them would want to kill the family?"

"Mayu-san has none that I know OF. For both Kira-san and Rina-san, they may have been told they would no longer be PUBLISHED. In Kira's case, his books have recently stopped selling as WELL. As for Rina, after the company she wrote for was taken over, several other authors were FIRED."

Yukari nodded again, but then asked, "But why murder? They may hate Kenji-san, but..."

"In addition, if Kenji-san and Kaname-san were both to die, the company would be forced to shut down, as the two of them run EVERYTHING. This would result in redundancies, and pay-outs to all the authors who are still employed, including both Kira-san and Rina-san."

Sukoshi nodded in agreement, "I have to admit, I'm in a similar position... although that hardly matters now I suppose..."

Yukari sighed, "So basically, we have two people with both motives and the opportunity to murder, and the motives in each case are simply money... just great."

"They say there are just two motives for murder: love and money," Sukoshi said. "We're just dealing with the second."

"Inspector Morse, correct? Hardly a historic great," Yukari said, sighing.

"Oh? Well it may not be aged, but it's still an excellent detective series. Although, it is mostly about the 'why' and not the 'how,' so it hardly has any complex murders which are seemingly impossible."

Yukari sighed, "You really do like your mysteries."

Sukoshi shrugged, "I like to solve them, and give others the puzzle to solve. As long as a mystery has a solution, and someone to solve it, it's fun. Whenever I write a mystery, I want someone to solve it, as it gives me the desire to create a harder mystery."

"So what happens when you create the perfect mystery?" Yukari asked.

"Then I stop writing, it's that simple... but I've yet to write a mystery which Lana here couldn't solve eventually."

Yukari nodded, then took a deep breath, "Right... we'd better try to find that cook now, the question is..."

A loud bang sounded, and by now all four of them knew the sound.

"A gun shot?" Marin exclaimed. The bang came from a fair way off, they could tell that easily, and they began running in the direction of the shot. It came from below them, from the ground floor, but as they hurried around on that floor, they soon realised it had come from outside the mansion.

Stepping out into the garden, they saw a figure on the ground some way off, face down on the lawn. They hurried over, and discovered Suru Chouri, a bullet wound in his back. By his side lay a gun, a pistol, the barrel still a little warm.

"And so the tenth person in this mansion meets their end." Sukoshi frowned, as Yukari knelt down to examine the body.

Chouri was still warm, and aside from the single wound, had no other signs of injury. Yukari judged the wound would not have been immediately fatal, but it was unlikely he could have fought off anyone else, especially if they had a gun. There was one thing she found odd, the wound was angled very slightly upwards. It was only about 15 degrees, but for a person to naturally shoot at that angle, they would have to be extremely tall.

"Hey... what's THIS?" Lana was kneeling a little way from the body, and reached down to pick something up. It was a letter. The envelope was plain, without any name or indication of who it was for.

Yukari stepped over, and took the letter, flipping it over and examining it, then tearing it open.

It contained a very brief message:

'I apologise for the inconvenience, but I raised one of your friends from the dead to serve me. He will serve me only as long as necessary, then I will send the dead back to death.

Lord Klein.'

Yukari stared at the letter. Sukoshi raised a brow, "Klein? Wasn't that the name of this place's previous owner... but he's long-dead..."

"I'm more worried about the fact he's saying that someone who's dead is back from the dead..." Yukari's eyes widened. "We need to go to each crime scene, and check each of the bodies is still there!"

Understanding her meaning, the other three nodded, and they quickly re-entered the house.

"We'll go to check the three servants and Kaname-san and Sharon-san," Sukoshi said, as he took the right keys from Yukari, and took Lana's hand as they rushed away.

"That leaves us with Kenji-san, Carl-san, Mayu-san and Kira-san," Marin said, and the two women hurried to the rooms.

Kenji's body was just as they had left it, the same for Carl's. Yukari had expected it.

* * *

"Those two have been confirmed dead in red, so they couldn't have returned to life," Ange said, "The same goes for all the people Sukoshi is checking. Of those who could have moved, only two could still be alive."

Klein smiled as he sat back and watched his opponent's move. His smile widened into a broad grin. She was close, so very close...

* * *

Mayu's body was lying just as it was left, and the two turned to the room opposite. The last room left unchecked, and now full of the witch's darkness. Yukari took out the master key again, and put the key in the lock. The question was, would the body be there?

Then Yukari realised something with horror. The door was already unlocked. They had been in that room when they had chased Chouri, and she had not locked it. Such a tiny oversight. She had locked Mayu's room before they chased him, she recalled that, but not this room.

She swung the door open, and saw a carpet stained red, but no body. The two stared at the patch of red on the carpet, and barely registered as Sukoshi and Lana ran towards them.

"We've got a problem," Sukoshi panted as he arrived behind them. "We've found Kira-san's body... and more besides..."

* * *

Klein smiled, "Now, Ange-Beatrice, are you prepared, the endgame is here. The last moves will be made now. Everything will be put before you, so are you ready?"

Ange nodded, as her golden staff appeared, ready to fight, "I'm ready, are you?"

Klein stood, his chair vanishing into dust, as his blade appeared in hand, "If so, we should go somewhere else, more fitting of the final fight, where others can watch more easily. There are a fair few witches interested in this battle."

Ange stood, and her chair vanished too, as did the table, and soon the whole room was gone. Mammon and Dlanor bowed, and both disappeared, Mammon into golden butterflies, and Dlanor into purple dust.

"Then let us take the stage, and begin this final battle!" Klein swung his sword, and a purple arc emanated from it. Ange blinked, and then they were on 'that' stage. She looked to the audience, and remembered when she was once chained there, to watch her family being destroyed by those closest to her. Now was her turn to stand on the stage, and reveal the truth.

Witches in the audience, who had been watching the play for some time, cheered when the pair arrived, ready to sink their teeth into the story, and hoping to tear it apart.

Klein smiled wearily. "Ah, I am but a source of entertainment for these witches, oh well, if they would be entertained, then who am I to deny them their enjoyment? Prepare, all of you! Prepare for the final trials, as we draw this tale to a close!"

* * *

The four arrived at the room, with Sukoshi in the lead. He pushed open the door, and Yukari stared in, dumbfounded for a moment. Three bodies lay in the room: Shika, Rina and Kira. Now the four who stared on were the only ones left alive within the mansion.

Yukari stepped forwards, and looked around the room. It was a room on the second floor, looking out over the garden where they found Chouri's body. There were two windows, both open wide, and by one was the body of Rina. A table was knocked over, and by it, the fallen corpse of Shika. Kira's body lay in a corner, in much the same state as it had been when they saw it before, face down, the blood on the back of his shirt still clear.

A pistol with a silencer lay just aside from Rina's hand, as she lay there, almost as if she were reaching out for the weapon. A bullet wound was clearly visible, the entry point in her stomach. Shika was wounded in much the same way, a bullet through her chest having ended her life.

* * *

"So... three bodies, one already dead, and nobody left alive who could have killed them." Yukari looked around the room once more, then sighed. "Let us begin..."

"One out of Shika and Rina brought Kira's body here, carrying the gun on their person. They ran into the other here, after dropping the body, and fought. The gun went off while they were fighting, and one was injured. The one who was injured however managed to take the gun and shoot the other!"

A simple blue truth, Ange's first attack against the warlock, as the two stood on stage, and the witches looking on gasped at the spectacle. A trail of blue followed Ange's staff, as it swung at the warlock.

"**Van Dine's 18****th****: accidental death is forbidden.**"

"Rina killed Shika, then, overcome with regret, shot herself."

"**Van Dine's 18****th****: Suicide is forbidden.**"

The purple sword, trailing red, and the golden staff trailing blue, clashed again and again. A host of suggestions, knocked down by a host of truths. The witches watching were astounded by the spectacle.

"One of the three is actually alive. They are only playing dead."

"**The only people still alive in this mansion or its grounds are as follows: Yukari Kotobuki, Marin Yokubari, Lana Yuugaina, Sukoshi Jinchi.**"

The two leapt back at that point, and Klein pointed his sword at Ange. "**That is to say: Carl is dead, Kenji is dead, Kaname is dead, Sharon is dead, Renji is dead, Karen is dead, Saban is dead, Mayu is dead, Kira is dead, Suru is dead, Rina is dead, Shika is dead. No person is allowed to use any of these names other than their rightful owner. Each of these is a separate person. Aside from those I have just named in my last two truths, there is nobody in this mansion or its grounds.**"

A red prison surrounded the mansion, and red images of each of the fallen appeared on stage, each a servant of Klein's, ready to destroy any theory which suggested they were still alive.

"Then, Shika shot Rina, however, Rina was not killed immediately. She managed to take the gun from Shika, and shoot her."

"**Rina's death was instantaneous.**"

"Then turn it around, Shika was shot first, then managed to wrestle the gun from Rina, and shoot her!"

"**Shika did not shoot Rina.**"

Ange was surprised by this last one. He was basically telling her that she did not have to suspect Shika, but that only left one option.

"Fine, then Kira was really alive after we found him. He was shot by Rina, but managed to shoot her before he died."

"Ah, but remember, I already said in red that Kira died..."

"Not exactly, you said he went unconscious after being shot. That is different from him being dead!"

The exact words used were '**After they were shot, the victims were unable to move. They both went unconscious immediately.****'** This left an opening for Kira to be alive. Ange would use this to attack with everything she had.

"**Kira's body has only one bullet wound.**" Klein sent forth his counter, "**If thing were as you said, he would have two.**"

"Then he was not shot, but simply succumbed to his earlier injuries."

Ange's strike hit hard, as Klein failed to block it. His truths thus far had failed to prevent this, he had nothing up to block with, the blue truth made this murder all too possible. It answered every question, for example: 'why was the body in this room, instead of in his bedroom?' The current explanation had no flaw.

So he had to give it one.

"You think that such a weak argument will stop me?" Klein stood tall, then raised his blade.

"**KIRA WAS DEAD WHEN YOU FOUND HIM IN HIS ROOM!**"

The slash of Klein's sword cut straight through the argument that Kira had killed Rina. It left the problem in tact, while removing the hole.

Ange stared at him, and collapsed to her knees. This was impossible. Only one person could physically have killed Rina, and they had been expressly forbidden from doing so. Shika had to have killed her, but the red truth forbade it. The only other potential killer was dead long before Rina was shot. There was no solution... except.

"I'll turn this around... with one person... no two. Sukoshi, Lana, tell me... you've told me the truth, right?"

Sukoshi and Lana rose from the floor of the stage, and nodded. "**We cannot lie about the case,**" Sukoshi confirmed in red.

"But... you haven't told me the whole truth!" Ange stood, and raised her staff, "Sukoshi is the murderer, and Lana his accomplice. During the time we were separated, they killed Rina and Shika. Sukoshi also had the opportunity to kill both Carl Haber and Kenji Kurusu. They had Suru assist them with the other murders, and had Shika dispose of Suru and move Kira's body to make him seem to be still alive."

Around the golden staff, seven blue stakes appeared, poised to strike. As Ange swung the staff down, the stake flew at Sukoshi, ready to skewer him...

...and Sukoshi sneered.

"You would attack the vessel of the eternal warlock? You have no idea..."

The blue stakes froze in mid-air, as they struck a purple barrier.

"But... but..." Ange stared, as her grip tightened on her staff.

Sukoshi laughed, and replied, "Recall, one of the first truths of this game: _This is the eternal truth: the following are not culprits or accomplices: Ange, Marin, Lana, Sukoshi._"

Ange's knees buckled, and she fell to the floor again, as Sukoshi and Klein both sneered down on her.

"This... is truly impossible..." Ange's eyes began to tear up, but she pulled herself up, and readied her staff once again. "No... I know it is solvable, and I will beat you, WAAARLOOOOCK!"

Klein smiled, grinned, and raised his sword, "Then come, attack me! Defeat my red and eternal truths! Come, AAANGEEE-BEATORICHE!"

* * *

Game Result:

Carl Haber: Died in the First Trial, the subtle knife plunged through his back.

Kenji Kurusu, Died in the Second Trial, as he was bound by the eternal truth, the Warlock let his prisoner find peace.

Kaname Kurusu: Died in the Third Trial, the eternal truth pierced through all protection.

Sharon Haber: Died in the Fourth Trial, the Warlock slipped the knife through the bars of her cage.

Renji Torei, Died in the Fifth Trial, which gun was it which took his life?

Karen Suwa, Died in the Sixth Trial, which gun was it which took her life?

Saban Toru, Died in the Seventh Trial, which gun was it which took his life?

Mayu Ritsuka, Died in the Eighth Trial, locked in her cage, only the Warlock visited her.

Kira Satsujin, Died in the Ninth Trial, locked in his cage, turn the dead back to death.

Suru Chori, Died in the Tenth Trial, the Warlock did not care for those who fled.

Shika Kurusu, Died in the Eleventh Trial, the Warlock held no respect for the coward, and slew her.

Rina Kibou, Died in the Twelfth Trial, the Warlock respected her courage in the face of death, and offered her a duel.

...and then there were none.

Sukoshi Jinchi, survived the trials, and told the tale of the Warlock.

Lana Yuugaina, survived the trials, and assured that the truth could be reached.

Marin Yokubari, survived the trials, but could do naught but accept the Warlock.

Ange Ushiromiya, survived the trials, she would never accept the Warlock, no matter what he did.

Ōkami no Naku Koro Ni

Fin

…

New material has been added to the story, please confirm this in the chapter select...


	11. Tea Party

Ōkami no Naku Koro Ni, Tea Party

The mass murder at Kirisuto Mansion was, naturally, a front page story for several newspapers. Sixteen people went in, four came out. The four were naturally shrouded in suspicion, but none of the evidence suggested they were the perpetrators, and their testimonies matched too well for them to be made up. The four were soon released, though the public still muttered, and when the public mutters, it does so loudly.

Yukari sat in a coffee shop, waiting for Marin, and knew that several pairs of eyes were on her. They knew her face from the front covers of several newspapers. As Marin came over to the table, holding two cups, the gazes turned briefly to the new spectacle, before they began talking to each other, and turned back to their own tables.

"Oh goodness, we can't go anywhere," Marin said, as she passed Ange her coffee.

"I know. Apparently Sukoshi and Lana have moved around the whole country to try to get away from it. They're currently holed up with Lana's grandmother, some place in the countryside." Yukari sipped her coffee, and sighed. It had been about three weeks since they were released from custody, which they had been in for nearly a week. While their two companions had chosen to move around to throw off the press, and the attention, Marin and Yukari had decided to stay where they were.

"I'm still wondering, who was it? And how did they do it?" Marin wonderer aloud.

"Well, I don't know..." Yukari had thought it over many times, but still had not managed to find the truth. "Sukoshi's writing an account of what happened. Maybe someone in the public will find a solution. At the very least, they'll come up with theories, endless theories. To be honest, I doubt they'll find the truth."

"Well, the thing I'm wondering, is who won?" Marin said, as she sipped her drink again.

"What do you mean?" Yukari asked.

"Who got what they desired, in spite of dying?" Marin asked.

Yukari stared at her, and felt the tide of reason sweeping in. "I... I've got it."

* * *

Ange-Beatrice's eyes opened wide. She still stood upon that stage, she had sought an answer for a month in human time, but for a decade in witch-time, and now the answer came, from one little comment? As it all began to fit together, she knew the truth.

"Warlock!" Ange called out into the darkness of the stage, the audience long since departed.

"What is it?" A purple shimmering appeared, before Klein stepped onto the stage.

"I've found the truth, I'm ready to play." Ange's staff appeared in her hand, "Let us lay this tale to rest. I, the detective, shall perform the last rites."

Klein smiled wryly. "Then, let us battle this one last time."

Klein leaped at Ange, swinging his blade with a trail of red, "**First Trial. The prison locked from within.**"

Ange hardly reacted to the attack, as she raised her staff, and a shield of blue formed from it. "Earth to Earth. The prisoner who locks his own cell is not trapped."

Klein backed off, then red chains rose and bound the staff in Ange's hand, "**Second Trial. A chain binds the dead within his cell.**"

"Illusions to Illusions. The illusion of the chain binds only an illusion of a prisoner"

The golden staff, with blue truth trailing from it, cut through the chains binding it and struck Klein, purple trails coming off his body, wispy, and fading swiftly.

"**Third and Fourth Trials. The weapons do not match the victims.**"

"Earth to Earth. The weapons stay with those who wield them."

Again, the trails of light released from Klein's body, and he smiled, before attacking once more, with a trail of red.

"**Fifth Trial, Sixth Trial, Seventh Trial. Not even a bird can escape a birdcage.**"

"Illusions to Illusions. The illusion of a lock cannot hold back a bird."

Even more purple light emanated from Klein's body, as his illusion was broken down, as Ange reached deeper into his heart.

"**Eighth and Ninth Trials. The keys locked in each other's cages, the walking dead escapes.**"

"Illusions to Illusions. The keys slip through the bars of fate, and the warlock helped the dead walk."

Ange struck with her staff once more, and Klein fell back, a golden cut in his chest, as her bled purple blood from the wound.

"**Tenth Trial. The escaped prisoner is felled in his flight."**

"Earth to Earth. No falsehoods in his final moments."

"**Eleventh Trial, Twelfth Trial. In the final cage, when nobody is left to slay them, two more fall, and then there were none.**"

"Earth to Earth. Three shots, no falsehoods."

The last strike of Ange's went straight through Klein's heart, and when it was withdrawn, a huge golden hole was in the middle of his chest. In the centre of that hole was a purple core, Klein's heart.

"_So give it to me, what is my eternal truth?_"Klein enquired with a smile, as Ange raised her staff once more.

"**Illusions to Illusions, Dust to Dust.** _Eternal magic is not magic._"

As Ange struck, plunging the golden staff straight through Klein's heart, the warlock smiled, and stumbled back, the staff still stuck in his flesh.

"**Perfect... you... have destroyed my illusion.**"

Klein staggered, then stood up straight, before making a perfect bow, even as his body began to fade from existence.

"_Ange Ushiromiya... I thank you, from the bottom of my heart... Let me introduce myself again. I am Satoru Klein, the Unending Warlock, the one who knows that Witches exist, but wishes only to destroy them._"

Ange watched, as Klein faded, until only a purple core remained. She took her staff back, then swung it at the core of Klein's being with a trail of gold flowing from it, "I am sorry, but I am the Witch who knows that** Witches do not exist.**"

**Tea Party: Fin**

…

New material has been added to the story, please confirm this in the chapter select...


	12. Unknown

Ōkami no Naku Koro Ni, ? ? ?

Mist shut the book, and put it down on a small table. "Well, that was rather entertaining, not too bad Klein."

Klein smirked, "That's high praise coming from you. The highest you've ever given."

"Says you," Mist chuckled. "But still, you were destroyed, so how are you here?"

"If you understand the eternal truth, you'll understand that." Klein smiled, and reclined in the sitting chair. They were in a large room, with bookcases covering most of the walls, though some were nearly empty while others were full to bursting. "Everything I've written is here, so now, where to put this thing?" Klein picked up the book Mist had just been reading, and looked around the bookcases.

"Not there... not there... it's not a romance... certainly not near that thing..." Klein mumbled as he looked around the room for the correct spot. Then he came across a bookcase with very little on it. The bookcase itself stood out a bit as it was very well maintained, certainly better than many of the others, and when Klein reached it, he nodded, and placed the book carefully down on a shelf, at about head-height.

"There we go, now the story is complete..." he smiled. "Well then, my fellow witches, I hope to see you again, maybe it'll be when something else cries, or maybe not. But wherever it is, I hope you enjoy the trip."

As Mist chuckled, Klein smiled, then yawned, "But for now, I wish you all farewell, until we meet again."

The door to the room closed, and on the outside, written in purple, were five words:

_Auf Wiedersehen_

_Der Blaue Wolf_


End file.
